Panama, the canal, the country and the people;

PANAMA

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THUHBULLARD

A Book.
pichei. up

by J

JohnTrdcglPmteficK

PANAMA

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NBW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO . DALLAS
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.

TORONTO

Copyrighted by Harris &• Bluing.

GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS,

Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission.

PANAMA

THE CANAL, THE COUNTRY

AND THE PEOPLE

BY

' -' ' W

ARTHUR BULLARD

(ALBERT EDWARDS)

REVISED EDITION WITH ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS

ILLUSTRATED

Wefo gorfe
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1914

All rights reserved

CO^YMfJHT, 1911, BT THI OxITLQOK COMPANY.

, ,1911, 1914,

Se*upandelectrotyi|sd*0fublishedOctohcA''9iI- Reprinted
Aru^ry, 1912. *•»,

JJJ^w^ijsvised and enlarged edition, Septenfbie/t 1914.

J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick <fe Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

To my friend,
JOHN O. COLLINS

PREFACE

CHAPTERS I, III, XXVI, XXX, XXXI, and XXXIII

appeared as articles in The Outlook; Chapter II in Harper's
Weekly; Chapter VIII in Success Magazine. Chapter
XXXIV is a compilation of material used in articles for
Success and The Coming Nation. They are reprinted here
through the courtesy of the original publishers.

The works of Bancroft, Fiske, Irving, Prescott and
Winsor — the principal authorities on the epoch of discovery
and colonization — have been freely used.

Other authors have been quoted — acknowledgment is
made in the text — and many more have been consulted.
The staff of the American History Department of the New
York Public Library have been of great assistance.

While on the Isthmus I have received courtesies too nu-
merous to mention from the canal men. I am especially
indebted to Col. George W. Goethals, the Chairman and
Chief Engineer, and to Mr. Joseph Bucklin Bishop, the
Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission. The chapter
on health conditions could not have been written except
for the kind assistance of Mr. Jennings, the Entomologist
of the Sanitary Department.

In a more personal way I am deeply in the debt of my
friend, John 0. Collins, for suggestions and services with-
out end.

The exact information contained in this volume is due
to those I have mentioned. The mistakes are my own.

ARTHUR BULLARD.

NEW YORK CITY,
July, 1911.

vii

PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION

THE body of the book has been carefully revised, new
illustrations gathered and two chapters added.

My friend, John O. Collins, has helped me with many
corrections of the first edition and suggestions for this.
And I am especially indebted to my hosts of "The
Monastery," Mr. F. H. Cooke, U.S.N., and Mr. W. H.
May, whose kind hospitality made my recent visit to the

Isthmus most pleasant.

ARTHUR BULLARD.

1914.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE SEA ROUTE 1

II. A CARGO OP BLACK IVORY 26

III. THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 44

. IV. COLON AND PANAMA CITY 54

I V. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS .... 67

VI. THE PANAMANIANS 81

VII. "THE DARIEN" 94

VIII. THE THIRST FOR GOLD . . . . . . .108

IX. THE JUNGLE 120

X. THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN .... 132

XI. THE FIRST COLONISTS 150

XII. SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DARIEN . . 169

XIII. THE SOUTHERN SEA 190

XIV. PEDRARIAS 207

XV. THE CONQUEST OF PERU 229

XVI. LAS CASAS 253

XVII. THE DAYS OF THE GREAT TRADE 281

XVIII. PRIVATEERS AND PIRATES 302

XIX. THE BUCCANEERS .317

XX. THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 337

XXI. THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE . . . 356

XXII. THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE — MIRANDA . . . 370

XXIII. THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE — BOLIVAR . . . 382

XXIV. EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 397

XXV. THE PANAMA RAILROAD 418

XXVI. OUR PREDECESSORS ON THE JOB 431

XXVII. THE 53 REVOLUTIONS IN 57 YEARS 446

~4~

\

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XXVIII. THE SECESSION FROM COLOMBIA ..... 461

XXIX. BEGINNING WORK ........ 475

XXX. THE Boss OP THE JOB ....... 497

XXXI. PULLING THE TEETH OP THE TROPICS . . . .511

XXXII. TRANSPLANTED AMERICANS ...... 526

XXXIII. THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 ....... 540

XXXIV. EXPERIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY ... 557
XXXV. FINISHING THE JOB ..... .. . .579

XXXVI. THE PROFIT . ........ 588

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

George Washington Goethals Frontispiece

FACING PAGK

The Keepers of the Peace in Barbados 20

A Bullock Cart in Martinique 20

A Cargo of Black Ivory at the Colon Dock 42

The View from the Tivoli 60

Culebra Cut in 1909 60

Map of the Republic 66

Water Front, Panama City 80

The Flat Arch of the Church of St. Dominic . . . .100

The Cathedral of Panama 100

Banana Market at Gatun, on the Chagres 110

Map of Indias 132

Chepigana 150

El Real de Sta. Maria 150

Indian Cayukas on the Chucunaque River 170

Village of San Miguel, Pearl Islands 180

The Steamer Veraguas 200

The Deserted Rancho 200

A Cholo Indian Village . . . . . . . .220

Hitting the Trail . . .270

Cocoanut Palms 270

Puerto Bello — the Grave of Sir Francis Drake . . . .290
Native Village on the Site of the Old Town of San Lorenzo . 300

Old French Equipment 340

Modern American Equipment 340

John Findley Wallace, First Chief Engineer . . . .360

John F. Stevens, Second Chief Engineer 360

Culebra Cut in 1904, December, looking North . . . .380

Colonel Goethals' Home 400

Part of the Labor Problem 400

xiii

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Anopheline Mosquito 440

Isthmus with Completed Canal 460

Aricon Hospital 480

The Middle Lock at Gatun, looking South, April 1, 1911 . . 500

Cut at Empire, in 1911 516

A Steam Shovel 530

Culebra Cut, Culebra, looking South from the West Bank and

showing the Completion of the Bottom Pioneer Cut . . 550
Gamboa Dyke, separating Chagres River and Gatun Lake on the

Left, from the mouth of the Culebra Cut .... 566

The Blowing up of Gamboa Dyke 570

Blowing up Gamboa Dyke. View from the West Bank, showing

the Water rushing through the Opening .... 576
Suction Dredges operating on the North and South Sides of the

Cucaracha Slide, Culebra Cut, Culebra .... 580
Cross-Section of Culebra Cut, showing Increased Excavation due

to " Slides " 584

Culebra Cut, Empire, looking South from the West Bank near

Cunette 590

Gatun Locks, looking North from the Light House on the West

Wall. Atlantic Entrance in the Distance . , 592

PANAMA

PANAMA

CHAPTER I

THE SEA ROUTE

THE tropics should be visited by way of the sea. You
come into them gently, almost imperceptibly. You are
more impressed by the intensifying blueness of the water
and sky than by the increasing heat. It begins when you
leave the grayness of the Gulf Stream and deepens day by
day. Each night you turn in feeling that at last you have
perceived the ultimate blue. And each morning you wake
up to realize that yesterday's blue was as insipid as a first-
love compared to deepness of the color of this new day.

The fourth night out I was on the bridge with the cap-
tain watching the glory of the summer moon lazily climb-
ing up from the horizon — painting a silver " trail of rapture
in the wonder of the sea." Suddenly the rich notes of a
guitar broke the silence, and then — after a few preliminary
chords — a West Indian negro melody floated up from the
forecastle hatch. The captain stopped his sentry-like pac-
ing, smiled contentedly, and pointed with his pipe towards
the sound.

"Hear Jem?" he said. "They're getting near home.
They never sing above twenty-five degrees north. It's
time to get out your white clothes."

And so you pass into the tropics to the music of minor

1

2 PANAMA

chords. It is worth the trip just to see the delectable grin
of perfect joy with which the negro steward lays out your
"ducks."

Late the next night we caught the gleam of Culebra,
our new naval base off Porto Rico. It was the first sign
of land since the snow-covered Jersey hills had sunk into
the sea.

Before dawn the next morning I was startled out of
sleep by a sound I had not heard for many months,
for it is not heard on Broadway — it was a cock crow-
ing, answered almost immediately by the barking of a
farm dog. I was on deck as soon as might be. Our
ship was riding at anchor off the Danish island of St.
Thomas. The moon had set, and in the darkness there
was little to see except the jagged outline of the moun-
tains. The entrance to the harbor was dimly visible, and
inside a few early lights twinkled in the town. But the
land breeze brought us out many unfamiliar sounds and
innumerable rich perfumes — the pungent fragrance of the
Southland.

As the dawn broke we got under way. It is a wonderful
harbor. The entrance" is less than half a mile across, and
within — the hills rising a thousand feet on every side — is a
six-fathom basin, a mile or more across. Nature has rarely
built so perfectly safe a harbor. And at the foot of the
bay, climbing up the hillside, is the many-colored town of
Charlotte Amalia.

The view from deck, as the ship creeps in to anchorage,
is the most charming in the West Indies. The bay lacks
the great sweep of Algiers, but it has the same mountain
background, the same glorious blue of sea and sky. The
village, blue and orange and yellow and red, recalls some of
the coast towns of Italy. The garden walls of the hillside
villas shine out dazzlingly white against the luxurious green

THE SEA EOUTE 3

of the tropical foliage. The ruins of Bluebeard's castle
above the town — a landmark of the old days of buccaneers —
present the only touch of gray. The rest is a riot of color.
Most striking of all is the gaudy red Danish fortress down
by the water front. I have never seen so red a building.
At first it is glaring and unpleasant, but after a time one's
eyes become' accustomed to the new scale of color values
which the intense sun of the tropics requires. And the
bizarre glory of this fort — which would be unspeakably
offensive in the gray north — seems to be not out of place
in the color scheme of St. Thomas. The town of Char-
lotte Amalia has taken the atmosphere of Algiers and the
gorgeous coloring of Venice, rolled them into one, and
reduced it to miniature.

But the place is beautiful only from the ship. As soon
as the harbor doctor had approved our bill of health, the
bumboats swarmed about the ship. We were taken ashore
by an old negro named Ebenezer. We chose him from all
the crowd of dilapidated ferrymen who had bid so raven-
ously for our traffic, because his white-bearded face looked
the hungriest. The poverty of the negroes all through the
islands is appalling. Old Ebenezer had never been out of
St. Thomas. And his horizon was even narrower than the
land-locked harbor. As he took us in he pointed out the
various places of interest — Bluebeard's castle, the factory
where the natives make the bay rum which they think has
made their island famous. At last his long, emaciated finger
pointed to an uninteresting modern building.

"Th' Barracks, suh."

"Have they a large garrison here?" I asked.

"Oh, yus, suh! an a'my, suh."

"How many?" I asked. "Ten?'

"Oh, suh! No, suh! Mo' than ten, suh. Thu'ty, sir!
About thu'ty, suh!"

4 PANAMA

Ebenezer's whole vision was on the scale of a large army
of about thirty men.

It was immediately after breakfast when we came ashore,
but the sun was already hard at work. There must have
been a difference of twenty degrees in the temperature
afloat and ashore. For when we clambered upon the glar-
ing white concrete dock, the heat struck us like a blow.
The town is as uninteresting as it is hot. There are nine
hundred and ninety-nine colored people to one white.
The women were shapeless, and all seemed old. Their cos-
tume held no picturesqueness. There was rarely a touch
of color — for the most part their dresses were of the dirtiest
white. Poverty hangs heavy over everything. The rich
forests which once covered the hills have long since passed
away. The soil is almost sterile. Little grows but the bay
tree, from which the hair tonic — the island's one industry —
is produced. Steam traffic and cables have ruined the
place. The magnificent harbor which was once crowded
with sailing vessels waiting for orders is now almost de-
serted.

Charlotte Amalia is a good place to shop, as it is a free
port. European goods can be bought at fabulously low
prices. While I was stocking up on linen clothes, I was
approached by the tallest, lankiest, blackest negro on the
island. "General," he said, " liketohavesomebodycarry-
yourgoods?" I had to make him repeat it a dozen times
before I could locate the spaces between the words. His
eyes were so big and serious about it, his general scenic
effect so unutterably droll, that I took him on, and chris-
tened him "The Army." We taught him to salute, right
about face, etc., and loaded him up with our bundles until
he looked more like a pack mule than an army.

He proved of great service to one of our party who wanted
to get typical photographs. He posed in a dozen attitudes

THE SEA EOUTE 5

himself, procured other groups for us — an old woman with
her hay-laden ass. Then we began to poke fun at him;
could he get the prettiest girl in the town to pose for us?
Certainly. He disappeared around the corner, and came
back in ten minutes with a girl who admitted that she was
the belle of the island. He was wonderfully solemn about
it all.

"Could you bring us a volcano?" I asked. "My friend
here wants a picture of a volcano."

"No, suh," he said, saluting with the utmost seriousness.
"They are not in season. You can't get them except in
May. Come back in May."

I paid him off after that and discharged him. I have a
sick feeling every time I think of it. My friends good-
naturedly insist that the man was stupid and didn't know
what a volcano was. But much as I would like to believe
this, I can't. I think he was paying me back in my own
coin — overpaying me. I don't think I'll go back in May.

When the captain had finished business with the com-
pany's agent, he joined us and led us off in search of refresh-
ment. The Grand Hotel faces the public square by the
landing-place. It is built like first-class hotels in tropical
cities the world over — thick white walls, high spacious
rooms, and a veranda roofed over and protected by many
blinds and sunshades. The whole thing is built on a scale
ten times too big for a little town like Charlotte Amalia.
The great hall was deserted except for a child at play.
On the veranda a Danish officer was breakfasting in soli-
tary splendor. There was no servant in sight; no bell with
which to call one. The officer, seeing our helplessness,
bawled out some Danish summons at the top of his voice.
By and by a waiter appeared. He was as black and shiny
as an ebony cane. He wore duck trousers, an open net-
work undershirt, to which he had added a high celluloid

6 PANAMA

collar and a soiled white tie. Could we get some ices? He
did not seem at all sure one way or the other. After severe
cross-examination he admitted that he could get some bot-
tled kola for the ladies and some beer for the men.

The Grand Hotel with its hundred empty guest rooms,
its vast deserted veranda, its barefooted, slovenly servant,
is typical of this disappointed island. There is another
equally desolate hotel in St. Thomas, called "1868" — after
the great year when King Christian the Ninth signed the
treaty by which he ceded his West Indian islands to the
United States.

In those days the people of St. Thomas dreamed great
dreams. And these dreams were the foundation on which
these great hotels were built. At last the island was to
recover from the decline which steam shipping had brought.
From insignificance it was to rise to "The Gibraltar of the
West" — the great naval outpost of the United States.
England was spending millions on the fortifications of Ber-
muda and St. Lucia. Spain for centuries had been strength-
ening San Juan in Porto Rico and the different ports of
Cuba. But St. Thomas held the key to the Spanish Main
— as a glance at the map will show. American gold and
American life were to flow into the port. For half the
money the other nations were spending on their fortresses
the harbor of St. Thomas could have been made twice as
strong. So it was not a baseless dream.

A tornado and tidal wave — the only such catastrophe
recorded in these islands — spoiled it all.

Our diplomatic record in regard to these islands is the
blackest stain on the annals of the Department of State —
and it is to be the more blushed at because the nation we
slighted was too small to resent the insult with arms. Dur-
ing the Civil War the need of a naval base in the West
Indies became apparent. Lincoln and Seward were greatly

THE SEA EOUTE 1

interested in the project, and St. Thomas was selected by
them — as it would have been by any intelligent observer.
It was perfectly fitted to our purpose. Denmark, which
through the war had been more friendly to Washington
than the other European nations, needed money. The mat-
ter was broached at Copenhagen by our diplomats, and,
after considerable haggling over the price, was favorably
considered. England and Germany, who did not wish to
see our hands strengthened, objected as strongly as pos-
sible. But Denmark dared the ill-will of these powerful
neighbors and pushed on the negotiations. The proceedings
were halted by the bullets which killed Lincoln and wounded
Seward. But the matter was reopened as soon as Seward
had recovered, early in 1866. He visited -St. Thomas to
satisfy himself that all was as represented. Things moved
rapidly, and in July, 1867, Seward cabled our ambassador
in Copenhagen: "Close with Denmark's offer. St. Johns,
St. Thomas, seven and a half million. Send ratified treaty
immediately." In October the treaty was signed.

Then occurred the tornado and tidal wave which picked
up the old United States frigate Monongahela and stranded
it high and dry in the middle of the town of Santa Cruz.
The ship was refloated, but the sensational stories of the
hurricane turned American sentiment against the island.

Denmark, however, considered the preliminary treaty as
binding. On the 9th of January, 1868, a plebiscite was held
on the island; almost unanimously the inhabitants voted
for the transfer. The Danish Rigsdad formally ratified the
treaty. And poor old King Christian sent out a pathetic
proclamation to his West Indian subjects:

". . . With sincere sorrow do we look forward to the
severance of those ties which for so many years have united
you to the mother country. . . . We trust that nothing
has been neglected upon our side to secure the future wel-

8 PANAMA

fare of our beloved and faithful subjects, and that a mighty
impulse, both moral and material, will be given to the happy
development of the islands under the new sovereignty.
Commending you to God, . . ."

Our Senate was pledged to ratify the treaty within four
months. Action was postponed two years. And mean-
while the treaty became buried in some pigeon-hole of the
Committee on Foreign Relations. King Christian had to
swallow the insult as best he could, and the islanders re-
gretfully returned to their old allegiance.

Negotiations were renewed from time to time, and hope
still lived in St. Thomas until the Spanish War gave us a
naval base at Culebra. Then hopeless disappointment set-
tled down on the island.

It was still night when we sighted Martinique. The
black shaft of Mont Pelee pushed up through the semi-
darkness to what seemed a ghastly height. The top spur
was lost in the clouds. But as the dawn came up out of
the sea the air cleared and the sinister peak stood out clear-
cut and cruel. The sides of the mountain are a dark,
angry red, scarred by innumerable black ravines. It is
rendered more appalling by the contrast of its barren flanks
with the luxurious vegetation below. The towering cone
would be a fearsome thing to see even to one who did not
know its murderous history.

About the skirts of the island runs a golden-green fringe
of cane-brakes; above are heavy forests of tamarind, mango,
and cabinet woods — the darkest shades of green; below are
the red rocks and the sea. The shores rise sheer from the
deep water, and we passed in close enough to see the white-
clad natives at work in the fields. The plantations run
high up the slopes to the "Great Woods," and, like French
agriculture everywhere, show minute care and a high de-

TEE SEA EOUTE 9

gree of culture. A farm road circles the island, dotted
here and there with white-walled homesteads, half hidden
in luxuriant gardens. Sleepy, nodding cocoa palms are
grouped about most of the houses, and in every garden are
the " flambeau" trees — red and brilliant as a Kentucky
cardinal.

We passed within sight of the gray blotch of ruins which
was once St. Pierre. It is scarcely a dozen years since Mont
Pelee exploded and blotted out this gay city, this Paris of
the West, but stories which are told about it are already
becoming legendary. If, for instance, you grumble at the
lack of good hotels in the West Indies, some one is sure to
say: "Ah! you should have seen St. Pierre; there were no
better hotels in Europe — and the cafe's! Why, the Rue
Victor Hugo looked like the Boulevard des Italiens." Or,
if you find life in the islands dull, you are straightway
assured that St. Pierre was gayety itself. There was a
theatre at St. Pierre. There was a promenade in the
botanical gardens, where a band played every afternoon,
where ravishing Creole beauties smiled at you. The legend
is explicit in this matter. The beauties of St. Pierre smiled
at all strangers. There is not an old timer in the islands
who was not a hero in a St. Pierre romance. And on the
8th of May, 1902, a little after early Mass, Mont Pele"e
with its torrent of fire wiped out St. Pierre and its gayety,
and all but one of its thirty-five thousand inhabitants.
Nothing is left but the dreariest of dreary ruins.

Farther down the coast is Fort de France. It does not
pretend to be what St. Pierre was, but still it is a fascinat-
ing city. The harbor, which is unusually good, is made
picturesque by an old fort which is gray with history.
The English captured it in 1762, again in 1781, 1794, and
1809. After Waterloo the island was restored to France,
and it is thoroughly French. It was hot, but the heat was

10 P-ANAMA

soon forgotten in the joy of being again on French soil.
The mansard roofs, the iron balconies, the brass bowls
before the shops of the hair-dressers, the patisseries, the
gendarmes — everything recalled the cities of France. There
are two department stores called "Au bon marche*." A
provincial French town without two such stores would be
as incomplete as an Uncle Tom's Cabin road company
without two Topsies.

But of more brilliant color and varied interest than the
stores are the open markets. In the early morning they
are crowded with natives, sellers of fruit and vegetables,
crude pottery, and general merchandise. There is an in-
cessant din of bargaining in the queer French patois — of
which I could not catch one word in ten.

The crossing of races has gone to the extreme in Marti-
nique. I had never before realized how many different
shades there are of black. Of the 180,000 inhabitants very
few are pure black, and fewer are pure white. The over-
whelming majority are of various degrees of mixed blood.
But they are a comely race — in striking contrast with the
natives of the northern islands. The women are lithe and
well formed, many of them fit models for sculpture. Their
dresses are a riot of color. The length of their skirts is a
mark of their station in life. A well-to-do Creole will have
hers made three feet too long in front, with a train of five
or six feet behind. They wear a sort of belt below the hips
and tuck up their skirts, by this means, to whatever height
their occupation demands. In their anxiety to protect
them from the dirt of the streets it is evident that their
skirts are worn solely as a decoration, and not at all from
a sense of modesty. It is a striking example of Professor
Veblin's "Theory of Conspicuous Waste." Another thing
which attracted my attention was that, while most of the
women were barefoot, some wore a slipper on one foot,

THE SEA EOUTE 11

invariably the left foot. I asked a policeman why this was.
He looked at me with condescending pity at my ignorance.

"Is it not Holy Week?" he asked.

Perhaps to one more familiar than I with the rites of the
Church in the tropics this may be an explanation, but to
me it only deepened the mystery.

The turbans of the women are quite wonderful affairs,
and the bandanna about their necks completes a close har-
mony of color which makes a parrakeet look like an ama-
teur.

The custom of carrying everything on their heads has
given the people a strange stride, in which the knee joint
is unused. This custom — if continued indefinitely — will
surely result in the atrophying of their arms. It is no
exaggeration to say they carry everything on their heads.
I saw one woman with a baby buggy balanced on her tur-
ban. I was not near enough to see if there was a baby
in it. But the greatest marvel was a big buck negro, with
perfectly good arms. He was strolling down the street with
a soiled and dilapidated brickbat on his head. I stopped
him, and asked why he carried with so much care so worth-
less a piece of rubbish. He took off the brickbat and showed
me a letter he was carrying, and explained that he had to
put on some weight to keep the wind from blowing it away.

After the monotony of the ship's fare a chance at French
cooking was not to be missed. At the Grand Hotel de
PEurope I found a chef with the true artistic instinct. He
came up, dusted all over with flour, from his oven, where
he was concocting a pate. Delighted at the idea of an
appreciative patron, he sat down with me in the cafe* and
sketched out a dejeuner. He was from the Faubourg St.
Antoine, and it was delightful to hear the twang of a true
Parisian accent after the slovenly patois of the natives.
The lunch was ready at noon, and he had done himself

12 PANAMA

proud. There was a fragrant melon, the pdte of calf brains
at which I had found him working, chicken en casserole, a
salad, and dessert. The only false note was the coffee.
It was native. There are people who claim that West
Indian coffee is superior to all others. But it must be an
acquired taste.

Later in the day I presented a letter of introduction to
the agent of an American business house. He came from
the north of Maine, of French-Canadian ancestry, and was
as out of place in the tropics as a snowball would be. And
the fever was melting him away as fast as if he had been
one. His hatred of the place was pathetic. He took me
over his house, pointing out all the villainies of life in Fort
de France.

"Look!" he said, with the eloquent gestures he had in-
herited from his forebears. "Look! look at this room!
They called it a kitchen! And that — that is supposed to be
a stove. And here, look at this — it is supposed to be a
bathtub! Not for horses — for us! Every time my wife
takes a bath in it she cries!"

He was perfectly speechless, he told me volubly, over the
lack of sanitary conveniences. He was a grotesque old
Northerner in his crisp white ducks, and it was hard not
to laugh. But the Tropics will kill him if he is not re-
called.

The show-place of Fort de France is the "Savane," the
great open square, where, surrounded by a circle of mag-
nificent royal palms, is the marble statue of Josephine.
I did not view it at close quarters, for it was raised by
Napoleon III, and the official sculpture of the Second
Empire could never tempt me to walk a hundred yards in
a broiling sun. But seen from the shaded cafe* of the
Hotel de P Europe, it is exquisite in its setting. Pure white,
under the gigantic palms, it is outlined against a heavy

THE SEA EOUTE 13

green background of mango trees. Off to the right, past
the moss-grown old fort, you can see a clump of cocoa
palms on the other side of the bay. It is the plantation of
La Pagerie, where the Empress was born. Some ruins of
the old house where she passed the first fifteen years of her
life still stand.

My memories of Martinique center about a woman whose
life had been almost as eventful as that of the sad Empress.
I saw her first in the early morning. When our ship cast
anchor, we were surrounded, as usual, by a swarm of little
boats. They had to keep back a few hundred feet until
the Harbor Master had come aboard and lowered our yel-
low flag. Watching them, I noticed another boat a hundred
yards beyond this circle. It was manned by two sturdy
blacks, and in the stern-sheets sat a woman in a heavy
widow's veil. The moment our quarantine flag dropped
she gave an order to her men and they rowed rapidly along-
side. She did not wait for her meagre trunk to be hoisted
over the side, but disappeared immediately in her state-
room.

I found the affair quite mysterious; for our boat was to
stay twelve hours in port, and people are not generally in
such a hurry to come aboard. And even more unusual
was the lack of any one to see her off; for in this neigh-
borly climate there is generally quite a formidable mob of
friends on the dock, and leave-takings are loud and volum-
inous.

But the interest of things ashore drove the thought of
this solitary woman from my mind until, back in the ship
at dinner, I found her seated beside me. She had thrown
the heavy veil back over her shoulder. Her profile was of
the purest French type; long, drooping eyelashes held a
suggestion of Creole blood, but it must have been a very
slight mixture and many generations back. She knew no

14 PANAMA

English, so I became acquainted with her, helping her
decipher the bill of fare. She accepted my aid with gra-
cious reserve. Her long, delicate hands, the gentle refine-
ment of her manners, spoke of race and good breeding.

We were scheduled to sail at eight, but for some reason
we were delayed. And after dinner, as I was pacing the
deck, she came to me and asked — with a vain effort to hide
her anxiety — if I knew how soon we would leave. The
farewell whistle had blown a few minutes before, and I
told her we were going at once. But this did not reassure
her, and I had to go forward to get definite word from the
captain. Before I could rejoin her, the anchor was up and
we were swinging out of the harbor. I found her settling
herself comfortably in a steamer chair. The look of worry
had given place to one of exceeding good cheer.

"May I trouble you once more, Monsieur? " she said.
"Have you a match?"

I had, and I asked permission to draw up my chair and
smoke with her. Her face was animated, and she seemed
to welcome a chance to talk. There were a great many
questions about America — a strange country to her — and
then about myself. When I told her that I was a writer,
her face, which was ever a mirror of her thoughts, clouded
ominously.

"Madame does not like journalists?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, I do," and she laughed merrily. "My hus-
band is an editor."

Her use of the present tense surprised me, as I had
thought her a widow. After this beginning, she told me
much of her own story. When she was eight years old,
her father, who had been one of the richest ship-owners in
St. Pierre, lost his life in a hurricane only a quarter of a
mile from the port. Thrice she had had the roof blown off
her house by the hurricanes. After her father's death she

THE SEA ROUTE 15

had been sent to a convent in Paris for her education. At
fifteen she had returned to the reckless city of St. Pierre. It
had been a gay time of balls and picnics and much court-
ing. Before seventeen she had married a professor in the
high school.

"My mother did not approve/' she said, "but it was a
true marriage of the heart."

And then her husband had "fallen in love with politics"
— such was her expression. And politics in the French
islands is a sad thing.

The negroes have developed no ability for good govern-
ment. It is more than a century since Toussaint 1'Ouver-
ture drove the whites away from the neighboring island of
Hayti. Since then the Black Republic has had external
peace. But its internal history has been one long record
of bloodshed and tyranny. And there is probably no place
in the Western Hemisphere marked with such utter degra-
dation. The French have kept a certain control over their
two other islands — Guadeloupe and Martinique. But it has
not been an efficient control, and while the French negroes
have not become so debased as in Hayti, they are in pretty
sore straits. "The Rights of Man" are in full swing in
these colonies; adult men vote, irrespective of color. As
the whites are vastly outnumbered, nearly all the officials,
except the Governor and the gendarmes, who are sent out
from France, are black. The islands which are unusually
blessed by nature, and were formerly exceedingly prosper-
ous, are dying of the dry-rot of political corruption. The
French Chamber is now investigating the affairs of Guade-
loupe. The scandal which started with the negro deputy
has involved almost all the officials, notably the judi-
ciary.

Things were just as bad in Martinique. My acquaint-
ance's husband had tried to bring reform by founding a

16 PANAMA

new party — a coalition of the whites and the more respon-
sible blacks — against the corrupt gang of mulattoes led by
the Deputy Severe. Her husband left his school work and
founded a paper — with her money, I judged.

By chance they were visiting his family at Fort de France
at the time of the eruption of Mont Pele"e. But every one
of her relatives perished at St. Pierre. He pushed on his
political work with success, and in 1907, in the campaign
for the Conseil Ge"ne"ral, the new party elected all but two
of the Councillors. The following May the time came for
the election of the municipal officers of Fort de France.
The coalition nominated a negro named Labat for Mayor.
The old Mayor, Antoine Siger, was nominated by the
mulatto gang to succeed himself. Feeling ran high, but
the defeat of the grafters seemed certain. At the last mo-
ment the old Mayor appointed the boss, Severe, President
of the Election Board. It was as though some Tammany
mayor had chosen Tweed to count the ballots. Labat, with
several supporters, went to the Hotel de Ville to try to ar-
range for a more trustworthy Election Board. A number of
shots were fired, and Siger, who stood close beside Labat,
was killed.

"The shots were meant for Labat," she said. "It was
the old gang who fired. Why should we have killed Siger?
We were sure of winning the election. But the administra-
tion was all against us; the Advocate-General, all the
judges, owed their positions to Severe. So they tried to
convict the leaders of our party. My husband was away
in the interior, voting from our estate, but they arrested
him too. The trial lasted a long time, but they only proved
the guilt of their own party.

" The day after Siger was killed there was another panic.
It was terrible. The whites expected a negro uprising.
The old gang had told the blacks that we were planning

TEE SEA ROUTE 17

to massacre them. And the Governor from France, who is
a fool, made matters worse."

Since this tragedy Fort de France has been governed
administratively. No elections being permitted, the old
corrupt gang is still in power. Nothing but the presence
of the mounted gendarmes, who patrol the island day and
night, prevents wholesale bloodshed. As it is, duelling is
incessant. Her husband had been challenged three times in
the last year. He was wounded in the first encounter,
drew blood in the second, killed his man in the third. As a
result, he had been compelled to flee away by night to the
neighboring English island of St. Lucia. She had stayed
behind in Martinique to keep his paper alive. But every
day she had been insulted in the street, every mail brought
threatening letters, at night she slept with a revolver under
her pillow. At last she could stand it no longer, and was
now on her way to join her husband. Afraid of some hos-
tile demonstration — even of arrest if her departure were
known — she had masked as a widow and had been rowed
aboard, not from the public dock, but from the plantation
of a friend farther down the bay.

We sat up all through the soft southern night — it was
useless, she said, for her to try to sleep — talking of the polit-
ical tangles of the colony. It was a sordid, almost hopeless,
story that she told. It was not exaggerated, for I have since
had opportunity to verify it.

The morning held another surprise for me. As we drew
up to the dock at St. Lucia, I saw a man running wildly
towards us. And it is not often that you see a well-dressed
man running in the West Indies. He wore a spotless white
suit and an elegant drooping Panama hat. He was a negro
— as black as the coal-piles ashore.

"Mon mari!" And my beautiful lady was leaning over
the rail, frantically throwing kisses to the grinning black.

18 PANAMA

As soon as the gangplank was down he dashed aboard and
into her arms. I have seldom seen a more affectionate
greeting

Barbados is not very impressive from the sea. It is a
coral island and flat. But the open harbor of Carlisle Bay
is one of the busiest ports in the West Indies. Anchored in
between the great seagoing steamers is a host of small
fishing-boats. One of the first things you notice as your
ship comes to anchor — one of the things which distinguish
Barbados from the other islands — is the number of trim
police-boats which dart about the harbor, bringing order
out of a maze of traffic much as a London "bobby" controls
things on the Strand.

In the first quarter of the seventeenth century a ship,
bearing English colonists to a neighboring island, cast
anchor off Barbados. A landing party went ashore, and,
finding it a rich country, carved into the bark of a mango
tree: "James, King of England and this island." Since
then the sovereignty of Great Britain has been continuous.
And Barbados stands in striking contrast to the other
islands, which have changed their flags almost as frequently
as the neighboring Latin-American republics have changed
their Presidents.

The police-boats in the harbor are only a foretaste of the
orderliness which meets you ashore. The fruits of the three-
hundred-year English rule are apparent everywhere. So
impressive was the law-abiding air of the place that one of
the first things I did was to drive out to the centre of all
this order — the police headquarters.

Starting from the miniature Trafalgar Square in the
miniature metropolis of Bridgetown, the carriage passed
along the most beautiful, the most superbly kept road I

THE SEA ROUTE 19

have ever seen. It is of coral rock, which disintegrates in
the air till it looks like cement and is almost as soft as turf.
On each side are low white walls, over which hang the gor-
geous blossoms of the tropics — the brilliant red hibiscus, a
deep purple wistaria-like trailer, and an occasional flam-
beau tree. Towering above you all along the way are the
most magnificent of all trees — the royal palms, lofty Doric
columns of living marble, crowned with superb capitals of
agate green. And back of the flowering gardens, under
these graceful giant palms, are neat, prosperous-looking
English homes. Their wide bungalow verandas give an
impression of cool, care-free, almost lazy ease.

Then, abruptly, come the suburbs of negro slums, cabins
of palm-thatch, old boards, and scraps of corrugated iron.
The shacks are so crowded together, the alleyways so choked
with children, that it makes an ordinary ant-hill seem
sparsely settled. It is appalling. In our city slums more
than half the misery and indecency of overcrowding is hid-
den by substantial walls. Here it is all open to the eye —
and unspeakably ugly.

It is a vast relief when the road comes to open country.
The white garden walls of the English, the squalid hovels of
the blacks, give place to the dense golden-green cane-brakes.
On every hillock there is a fat, stolid Dutch windmill, which
looks weirdly out of place among the cocoa palms. Here
and there you see a blotch of darker green — the park which
surrounds some manor house.

After half an hour's drive we came to such a park, and,
turning in through the gateway, found a charming, well-
kept garden. The carriage stopped before a low but spa-
cious bungalow. There was nothing to show that it was
not a private home except for the sentry before the door.

In a reception-room upstairs filled with military pictures
and portraits of the royal family I found Colonel Kaye, the

20 PANAMA

Inspector-General. He is so gracious that he seems more
at home on the veranda of the Savannah Club than at Head-
quarters. But this mild-mannered gentleman is police chief
over a population of nearly 200,000, only 16,000 of whom are
white. There are 166 square miles in the island; it is the
most densely populated agricultural district in the world.

"However, there is not much crime," Colonel Kaye re-
marked. And, to prove his statement, he showed me the
calendar of the Supreme Court, which was about to con-
vene. "There are only fifteen cases of felony this term.
The court sits every four months. Say an average of fifty
serious crimes a year."

He said this in a matter-of-fact way, with no show of
pride. But I doubt if there is any community of 200,000
in America which could make so good a showing. There
are no regular troops in Barbados. A handful of white
men rule 175,000 negroes and keep the rate of felonies
down to fifty a year!

"The crime which gives us most trouble," continued the
Colonel, "is setting fire to the sugar-cane. This offence
comes from three sources: Sometimes the boys do it — just
to see the blaze. Sometimes a man who has been dis-
charged does it for revenge. But generally it is in order
to get work. When the cane has been scorched, it has to
be milled at once."

And this points to an added wonder. The mass of the
negroes are deathly poor. During the few months of har-
vest and planting an able-bodied man on the sugar estates
earns twenty cents a day. But during the long winter
months some become so utterly destitute that they put a
torch to the cane — and risk ten years of penal servitude —
to hasten the harvest and their chance at twenty cents a
day. Yet in spite of such poverty there are only fifty
serious crimes a year.

THE KEEPERS OF THE PEACE IN BARBADOS.

A BULLOCK CART IN MARTINIQUE.

TEE SEA ROUTE 21

Colonel Kaye, like all the Englishmen I met on the island,
was convinced that the quiet and order in Barbados is due
to the limited suffrage. The right to vote depends on the
ownership of considerable property. This qualification
eliminates many of the poorer whites, the descendants of
the indentured servants, and almost all the negroes.

The race domination is frankly acknowledged. The
island has always been and still is run for the whites — "the
better-class whites." The abolition of slavery in 1834 did
not alter this in the least. Accepting this premise, the
island is well run, very well run. It is a heavenly place
to live for the white man who can ignore the frightful
misery of the negroes. And there can be no doubt that
the English residents succeed in shutting their eyes to every-
thing which is unpleasant or threatening. They get more
pleasure out of existence than any people with whom I
have ever mingled. It is an energetic, gay life of outdoor
sports, cold baths, picnics and balls, afternoon tea, and iced
drinks.

The social life centers in the parish of Hastings, two
miles down the coast from Bridgetown. The beautiful
parade of the deserted barracks has been turned into a
playground. The Savannah Club, on a polo day, realizes
the English ideal of gayety. The wide, shaded verandas
are crowded with fair-complexioned English girls in lawn
dresses — just such as are to be seen at a Henley boat race or
the Derby. Clean-limbed, clear-skinned Englishmen, in flan-
nels, stroll about between the tea-tables trying to be senti-
mental without looking so. Inside is a cardroom where
"bridge" is being taken seriously. The inveterate golfers
are off early, as their course crosses the polo field. Tennis
is in full swing on half a dozen excellent courts. The gray-
heads and children are busy on the croquet grounds. The
polo ponies are being rubbed and saddled. At last the

22 PANAMA

Governor and his American wife drive up in their trap.
The police band begins to play, and the game begins. The
scene recalls some of Kipling's stories of the "hill life" at
Simla.

A quarter of a mile farther down the coast is the great
Marine Hotel, the largest and by far the best hotel I found
in the West Indies. It is the scene of the big island dances,
and is almost as important to the social life of the place as
the Club. In its lobbies you meet Britishers from South
America and the islands waiting for the Royal Mail boat
home. They are a sturdy, adventurous people. But it is
an aggravating fact that they will not tell the stories — such
fascinating stories they might be — with which their frontier
life has been filled. The taciturnity of a Londoner never
troubles my spirit — how could a dweller in the dismal city
have anything interesting to say? But when I meet a
Britisher fresh from the jungle, tanned and scarred, who
refuses to talk about anything but the new Dreadnoughts,
I grind my teeth and curse the law against manslaughter.

It is not quite all gayety in Barbados. Sometimes — not
often — I heard complaints about the steady fall in the price
of sugar. As this is the one industry of the island, and the
price has been falling for many years, it is a serious problem
to the thoughtful. But I found very few who were willing
to do so gloomy a thing as think about the future. One of
the most popular social functions of the island is furnished
by the auction sales. I was invited to a tennis party one
afternoon, and when I arrived I found the plans were
changed.

"The Broughton auction sale is set for to-day, so we
decided to go over and see it instead of playing tennis,"
my hostess said.

We all piled into carriages, and, after a beautiful ride
into the interior, we turned through an old gateway, past

THE SEA EOUTE 23

an Elizabethan lodge built of coral stone, into a century-
old park. Up the drive I could see an old manor house,
which, if it were not for the palms and the flaming hibiscus,
might well have been in Surrey or Kent. There was a
crowd of carriages about the door; the stable court was full
of them. The porch was dense with well-dressed people, as
though it were some grand reception.

"All the best people come to the auctions," my hostess
said. "Even the Governor comes sometimes."

As we drove up there was a clamor of merry greetings,
for in Barbados everybody who is anybody knows every-
body else who is anybody. We pushed our way through the
crowd into the dismantled house. The rooms were splen-
didly large, decorated after the noble old English fashion;
the woodwork — some of it finely carved — was almost all
mahogany. But the carpets were up, the furniture ranged
stiffly along the wall, everything movable was numbered.
The sale was in progress in the dining-room. The great
mahogany table was loaded down with plate and glassware
and porcelain. It was being sold in blocks at a pitifully
low price. And there was the finest mahogany sideboard
I have ever seen. It was simple in its craftsmanship;
almost all the lines were straight; but it was marvellously
heavy, built in the old days when the precious wood was
as cheap in the islands as pine. It had been in the family
over a century. And it sold for forty dollars! Such a
piece could not be bought on Fifth Avenue for five hun-
dred. I was tempted to bid — it was such a rare old treas-
ure— but I never hope to have a house big enough to
hold it.

My party had not come to buy — it was only a social
reunion. Most of the island aristocracy was there, and
every one enjoyed himself immensely. Out in the corridor
I noticed a lonely group of furniture labelled "Not for sale."

24 PANAMA

There were a tall hall-clock of ancient make, a high-backed
rocking-chair, and two family portraits.

"Isn't it a shame!" I heard some one say. "I would
like to buy that clock."

It seemed cruel to want to take even these few relics.
I wondered what last leaf of this fine old family of Brough-
tons had saved these tokens out of the wreck. The old
high-back chair — how many generations of happy mothers
had rocked their babies to sleep in it ! And now the young-
est of the line cannot find heart to part with it. Some old
maid she is, I imagine. She will rock away what is left of
her life in that high-back chair in some strange, dismal
room, with only the ticking of the ancient clock and the
two old portraits for company. And the laughter which
came echoing down the dismantled hall seemed to me as
horrid as the merrymaking at a Flemish funeral.

For none of the fine hospitable Barbadian houses can
escape a similar fate unless the price of sugar goes up and
the negroes begin to bear fewer children. And neither of
these things seems probable.

But the climate is delicious. Each day, as it passes, is
perfect. The trade winds, blowing unobstructed from the
coast of Africa, bring a stimulating vigor to the air which is
unknown elsewhere in the tropics. It would be hard to
imagine a more healthy place. While I was there the
island was quarantined for yellow fever. There had been
six cases among the two hundred thousand people. None
of them died, and the one effect of the quarantine was a
vigorous polishing of sewer-pipes. As every one familiar
with the tropics knows, a port under quarantine is clean,
even if at other times it is unspeakably dirty, for quaran-
tine hurts business and makes the sanitary officials wake
up. But Barbados, being English, is always clean. So the
outbreak, while I was there, had no visible effect.

THE SEA BOUTE 25

Anyhow, it is a lotus island. Nobody worries. It is so
delicious to sit on a shaded veranda and hear the clink of
ice that even the residents forget the misery of the negroes
and the steady fall of sugar. So there is no excuse for a
mere visitor not to find the place charming.

CHAPTER II

A CARGO OF BLACK IVORY

ALTHOUGH the outbreak of yellow fever in Barbados was
not serious, the quarantine wrecked my plans. I had ex-
pected to leave the island on the Royal Mail boat for
Colon. But as long as the quarantine lasted no ship which
touched at Bridgetown would be allowed to enter any other
Caribbean port.

If I had been a Mohammedan or something Oriental I
suppose I would have said "Kismet — Allah-il- Allah, " and
enjoyed myself. It is a delectable island. But being a
child of the Western Hurry Land, and overdue on the
Isthmus, I fretted exceedingly. The officials of the Health
Department had no idea when the embargo would be lifted.
It might last a week — or a couple of months. I once tried
to call on a Russian editor in St. Petersburg. His wife told
me that he was in jail.

"When will he get out?" I asked.

"Even God doesn't know," she said.

I was in a similar condition of uncertainty. Even the
American Consul did not know when I could get out.

But the quarantine had not been in force two days, when
I found a way out. On the veranda of the hotel I over-
heard two men in earnest conversation. One was excitedly
insisting that it was an absolute necessity for him to be in
Martinique within a few days. The older man, a fine look-
ing G. A. R. type of American, said:

"I'm sorry, I can't help you get to Martinique, but I
could fix it, if you wanted to go to Colon."

26

A CAEGO OF BLACK IVORY 27

I told him my troubles without further introduction.

He turned out to be a man named Earner employed by
the Isthmian Canal Commission to recruit laborers. It
had been an interesting job — experimenting in racial types.
From first to last the Commission had tried about eighty
nationalities, Hindoo coolies, Spaniards, negroes from the
States, from Africa, from Jamaica, from the French Islands,
to settle down to those from Barbados. They have proved
the most efficient. This recruiting officer was about to send
over a consignment of seven hundred on an especially char-
tered steamer. They would avoid the quarantine restric-
tions by cruising about the six days necessary for yellow
fever to mature. Then, if their bill of health was clear
they could dock. My new acquaintance was not exactly
enthusiastic. It would be easy to arrange for my passage
on this boat, he said, but he did not think that one white
passenger among this cargo of blacks would have a very
pleasing time. But of course I jumped at the chance; it
was this — or the risk of being held up for weeks. I was
considerably cheered when I looked over the boat. I was
to have the first cabin all to myself and the freedom of the
little chart-house deck under the bridge. With a pipe and
a bag full of ancient books about the brave old days on the
Spanish Main, I could even expect to enjoy the trip.

After leaving the boat I met Earner at his office and we
went to the recruiting station. On our way we walked
through the little park which is grandiloquently called
Trafalgar Square. There must have been two or three
thousand negroes crowded along one side of it — -applicants
for work on the Canal Zone and their friends. The com-
mission pays negro laborers ten cents an hour, and ten
hours a day. Their quarters are free, and meals cost thirty
cents a day. It is a bonanza for them. Barbados is vastly
over-populated, work is scant, and wages unbelievably low.

28 PANAMA

Last year the Barbadian negroes on the Isthmus sent home
money-orders to their relatives for over $300,000, so there
is no end of applicants.

Several policemen kept the crowd in order and sent them
up into the recruiting station in batches of one hundred at
a time. The examination took place in a large, bare loft.
When Karner and I arrived we found two or three of his
assistants hard at work. As the men came up, they were
formed in line around the wall. First, all those who looked
too old, or too young, or too weakly, were picked out and
sent away. Then they were told that no man who had
previously worked on the canal would be taken again. I
do not know why this rule has been made, but they en-
forced it with considerable care. One or two men admitted
having been there before and went away. Then the doctor
told them all to roll up their left sleeves, and began a mys-
terious examination of their forearms. Presently he grabbed
a man and jerked him out of the line, cursing him furiously.

"You thought you could fool me, did you? It won't do
you any good to lie, you've been there before. Get out!"

I asked him how he told, and he showed me three little
scars like this, .'., just below the man's elbow.

"That's my vaccination mark," he said. "Every negro
who has passed the examination before has been vaccinated
like that, and I can always spot them."

He caught two or three other men in the same way and
sent them out on a run. They protested vehemently, one
arguing that a dog had bitten him there. But the telltale
white marks stood out clearly against their black skins;
there was no gainsaying them.

Then he went over the whole line again for tracoma,
rolling back their eyelids and looking for inflammation.
Seven or eight fell at this test. Then he made them strip
and went over them round after round for tuberculosis,

A CAEGO OF BLACK IVOEY 29

heart trouble, and rupture. A few fell out at each test.
I don't think more than twenty were left at the end out of
the hundred, and they certainly were a fine and fit lot of
men.

All during the examination I had never seen a more
serious-looking crowd of negroes, but when at last the doc-
tor told them that they had passed, the change was imme-
diate. All their teeth showed at once and they started to
shout and caper about wildly. A flood of light came in
through the window at the end, and many streaks shot down
through the broken shingles on their naked bodies. It was
a weird sight — something like a war dance — as they expressed
their relief in guffaws of laughter and strange antics. It
meant semi-starvation for themselves and their families if
they were rejected, and untold wealth — a dollar a day — if
they passed. They were all vaccinated with the little tri-
angular spots, their contracts signed, and they went pranc-
ing down-stairs to spread the good news among their friends
in the square.

Sailing day was a busy one. They began putting the
cargo of laborers aboard at sun-up. When I went down
about nine to the dock, it seemed that the whole population
of darkest Africa was there. I never saw so many negro
women in my life. All of them in their gayest Sunday
clothes, and all wailing at the top of their voices. Every
one of the departing negroes had a mother and two or three
sisters and at least one wife — all weeping lustily. There was
one strapping negro lass with a brilliant yellow bandanna on
her head who was something like the cheer-leader at a col-
lege football game; she led the wailing.

A number would be called, the negro whose contract
corresponded would step out of the crowd. A new wail
would go up. Again there was a medical examination —
especially a search for the recent vaccination marks. For

30 PANAMA

often a husky, healthy negro will pass the first examina-
tion and sell his contract. Then by boat loads the men were
rowed aboard.

Later in the day I encountered the yellow-bandannaed
negress, who had been leading the noise at the dock, sitting
contentedly in Trafalgar Square surrounded by three very
jovial young bucks. The negroes certainly have a wonder-
ful ability for changing their moods. My heart had been
quite wrung by the noise she made when her lover had left
in the morning.

About four o'clock I rowed out and went aboard. Such
a mess you never saw — what the Germans would call "ein
Schweinerei." There were more than seven hundred negroes
aboard, each with his bag and baggage. It was not a large
boat, and every square inch of deck space was utilized.
Some had trunks, but most only bags like that which Dick
Whittington carried into London. There was a fair sprink-
ling of guitars and accordeons. But the things which threw
the most complication into the turmoil were the steamer
chairs. Some people ashore had driven a thriving trade in
deck chairs — flimsy affairs, a yard-wide length of canvas
hung on uncertain supports of a soft, brittle wood. The
chairs took up an immense amount of room, and the ma-
jority of "have nots" were jealous of the few who had them.
It was almost impossible to walk along the deck without
getting mixed up in a steamer chair.

There were more formalities for the laborers to go through.
The business reminded me of the way postal clerks handle
registered mail. Every negro had a number corresponding
to his contract, and the utmost precaution was taken to see
that none had been lost and that no one who had not passed
the medical examination had smuggled himself on board.

We pulled up anchor about six. All the ship's officers
head moved into the saloon; it was the only clean place

A CARGO OF BLACK IVORY 31

aboard — a sort of white oasis in the black Sahara. For
fresh air the only available space was the chart-house deck.
There was so much to do in getting things shipshape that
none of the officers appeared at dinner. So I ate in solitary
grandeur. The cabin was intolerably stuffy, for at each of
the twenty-four portholes the round face of a grinning negro
cut off what little breeze there was. There was great com-
petition among the negroes for the portholes and the chance
to see me eat. As nearly as I could judge the entire seven
hundred had their innings. I faced out the first three
courses with a certain amount of nonchalance, but with the
roast the twenty-four pairs of shining eyes — constantly
changing — got on my nerves. I did scant justice to the
salad and dessert, absolutely neglected the coffee, and,
grabbing my writing-pad, sought refuge up on deck. The
steward, I suppose, thought I was seasick.

The negroes very rapidly accommodated themselves to
their new surroundings. The strangeness of it in some mys-
terious way stirred up their religious instincts; they took to
singing. A very sharp line of cleavage sprang up. The
port side of the ship was Church of England, the starboard,
Nonconformist. The sectarians seemed to be in the ma-
jority, but were broken up into the Free Baptists, Metho-
dists, etc. The Sons of God would go forth to war on the
port side, while something which sounded like a cross be-
tween "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and Salvation Army
rag-time was in full blast to starboard.

There was only one song, a secular one, on which they
united. The tune ran something like " Tammany," and as
near as I could catch the words the chorus ran:

" Fever and ague all day long

At Panama, at Panama,
Wish you were dead before very long
At Panama, at Panama."

32 PANAMA

Not exactly a cheerful song, but they sang it with great
fervor.

The next day I had the opportunity to get acquainted
with the ship's officers. The captain, a Liverpool man, was
short and built on the lines of an English bull. His child-
hood had been spent in France and he was absolutely bi-
lingual. He had read much more than his hearty British
tar's look suggested. I sat at his right. Opposite me was
the purser, a light weight — a peach and cream complexion
and very dudish. He combed his hair carefully and groomed
his finger-nails — "a gay dog with the ladies, doncherno."
At my right was the first officer, a fine type of straight
limbed, straightforward Englishman. Under thirty now,
he will be a philosopher at forty. He had not read as many
books as the captain, but he had thought a lot more about
each one. He was the best of the crowd. Opposite him
was the doctor, an old salt, born in Barbados. He had an
immense waistline, but his legs tapered down at a sharp
angle to ridiculously small feet. His face was broad, his
beard cut at the same angle as his legs, his hair flared out
from his head in an amazing way, so that he looked just
like a turnip. Next to the first officer sat the chief engi-
neer. He was also an oldish man from Barbados. He and
the doctor hated each other cordially and took opposite
sides on every question except the glory of Barbados. Any
slur cast at their native isle brought them shoulder to
shoulder in an instant. The second officer was a youngster
with a squint eye. He never took any part in the conversa-
tion except to startle everyone, now and then, with an
explosive request to pass him the pepper-sauce.

During coffee, while various yarns were being swapped,
the doctor woke up suddenly out of his coma — the state,
according to English novels, into which all elderly, fat
Britishers sink after a full dinner. He looked around vac-

A CAEGO OF BLACK 1VOEY 33

antly for a moment, and then, without waiting for any
break in the conversation, began ponderously:

"One time on a P. and 0. boat — down in the Red Sea —
so hot — we had to stop — to cool the engines . . ."

But he got no further; the chief groaned and threw a
biscuit at him. The purser jumped up and tied a napkin
over his face. Everyone howled derisively. The captain
leading, they recited in unison:

"One time on a P. and 0. boat — down in the Red Sea —
so hot — we had to stop — to cool the engines "

By this time the doctor had pulled the napkin from his
mouth, and, calling them all "bloody rotters," he relapsed
into sullen silence.

"What's the story?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll hear it — often enough before you reach
Colon," the captain said. "In self-defence we can't allow
it at dinner."

"When he starts it," the purser put in, " 'one time on a
P. and O. boat,' you'd better yell for assistance — it's awful!"

Then came another interruption. Suddenly all these di-
verse Englishmen, who did not appear to be very friendly,
were brought together with a snap. There was a sharp
commotion on the deck above us, the growl of many angry
voices, some high-pitched curses, and the rush of many
feet. Then in the flash of an eye these Englishmen showed
me why their race owns half the earth.

"Come on, boys," the captain said, as he jumped up.

A queer idea shot into my mind that the order which
sent the Light Brigade charging down the hill of Balaklava
must have sounded like that. But there was no time to
develop the idea, for we were all running up the compan-
ionway at top speed.

The soft southern moonlight was shining down on some-
thing very much like an inferno — a tangle of long sinewy

34 PANAMA

black arms ending in clenched fists, distorted black faces,
the whites of eyes, and gleaming teeth — and the low-pitched
angry growl of a fighting mob.

The captain's neck seemed to disappear. His head sank
right down on his square shoulders. With a yell he led the
charge, and all of us — in white duck — plunged into the black
turmoil. Seven against seven hundred. Englishmen cer-
tainly know how to use their fists. Every time they struck
somebody went down. We ploughed our way along the
deck to the storm centre. The captain gripped a man and
shook him like a rag. We all followed his example, up to
the limit of our strength. Personally, I felt like the tail of
the dog, for the man whom the Fates thrust into my clutches
was three times my strength.

One of the laborers, waving a guitar in his hand like a
banner, jumped on a box and yelled to the crowd to rush us.

"Shut up," the captain snapped, "or I'll put a bullet
into you!"

It seemed as though every one at once saw the glint of
his revolver. A sort of unearthly moan went up from the
negroes. They were utterly cowed. Most of them fell on
their faces and tried to crawl away.

"Here, you constables," the captain called, putting up
his revolver, "who started this muss?"

Ten of the huskiest negroes, it seemed, had been made
special constables. They had been discreetly absent during
the disturbance, but now turned up trying hard to look
heroic. They singled out two of the seven men we held —
I am sure it was an absolutely haphazard selection. With-
out further ado, with no pretence of a trial, these two men
were put in irons and thrown into the brig.

Then we went back to finish our coffee and cigars. I
asked the captain if he thought we had caught the real
trouble-makers.

A CARGO OF BLACK IVOET 35

" Probably not," he said, "but what does it matter? We
gave them a good scare. It's pretty hot down in the brig.
We'll keep these two there a couple of hours and when they
come out they'll be sure to exaggerate the horrors of the
place. It will put the fear of God into all of them. Be-
sides, it will give a good deal of prestige to the constables.
If we had questioned their word, their authority wouldn't
have amounted to anything. You can't temporize with
natives, you've got to act quick— even if you aren't right.
It isn't exactly justice, but it works."

It is this quick, fearless action and cynical disregard of ab-
stract justice which enables England to hold the lid down on
her colonies. I could not help questioning the morality of
such actions, but as the captain said, "it works." I guess it
is the inevitable ethics of empire. It had saved what was a
very critical situation. If they had made that rush, they
would have swept us overboard in a minute. Sooner or
later, many of them would have been hanged for it. As
it was, we had cracked a score of their heads, imprisoned
two who were probably innocent. No serious harm — be-
yond injured feelings — had come to any of them and order
was restored.

The captain himself did not feel entirely at ease, but
I soon found that his scruples were the opposite from
mine.

"Perhaps I ought to have shot that beggar," he said.
"It don't do to bluff, with a crowd like that. I was in a
muss once on the China sea — a couple of hundred coolies
as deck passengers. I don't remember what started the
rumpus. The captain tried to bluff them" — he paused to
engender suspense — " It didn't work. Before we got through
there were three of us dead and about twenty chinks. I
guess some of the rest are still in the penal colony. A quick
shot might have saved it all. Keep your guns in your pock-

36 PANAMA

ets till you have to shoot — and then don't hesitate. But I
guess this lesson will keep them quiet.'7

And the incident was closed.

I began to feel an ache in my leg, and, looking down, I
saw blood on my white trousers. During the excitement I
had barked my shin on one of those infernal deck chairs.
The doctor took me to his cabin to disinfect and bandage
the wound.

"One time on a P. and 0. boat," he began, "down in the
Red Sea . . ."

But the purser came along and threatened to throw the
doctor to the sharks if he inflicted the story on me. I was
getting quite curious about what did happen on that P.
and O. But the doctor was too busy reviling the purser to
finish the yarn.

That night we ran into heavy weather, and I have never
seen anything messier than the deck in the morning. Seven
hundred seasick negroes are not a pretty sight, but there
was a certain selfish joy in seeing that this storm had made
an end of those steamer chairs. They were all smashed to
splinters the moment we began to roll.

"I hope," the captain said at breakfast, "that this keeps
up. Seasickness will take the mischief out of them."

But his wish was not granted. By noon we had run into
a sea like a sheet of corrugated iron, just little ripples, and
a metallic look. We were running about eleven degrees
north, and it certainly was hot. There was not a breath
of wind. The negroes recovered with their habitual quick-
ness, and were in an unusually amiable mood. They
turned out willingly to help the crew wash down the decks.
I have never seen water evaporate so quickly. One minute
the decks were glistening with water, the next they were
already dry, within five minutes they were too hot to walk
on barefooted.

A CAEGO OF BLACK IVOEY 37

Of course these negroes were not very comfortable. But
they were free! There are many men still living who can
remember when slave-ships sailed these very waters. It is
hard to imagine what life on a slave-ship must have been.
The effort to reconstruct the horrors of those days — not so
very long past — makes the inconveniences which this cargo
of black ivory suffer seem small indeed. Above all, there
was no one among them who was not here of his own free
will. There was not one of them whose heart was not full
of hope — this voyage to them all meant opportunity. Think
what it must have meant to their forefathers! Nothing
which happened to them after they were landed and sold
could have approached the agony of the long voyage in
irons, thrown pell-mell into the hold of a sailing ship. Not
knowing their captors' language, they could not know the
fate in store for them. The world does move.

When, in the far future, the history of our times is writ-
ten, I think that our father's generation will be especially
remembered because it abolished the negro slave trade.
They invented steam-engines and all manner of machines;
they cut down a great many trees and opened up a conti-
nent and did other notable things. But their crowning
glory was that they made an end of chattel-slavery.

Until these imported negro laborers are handed over to
the United States authorities at Colon they are under the
paternal care of Great Britain. The conditions under which
they have been recruited, the terms of their contracts, have
been carefully supervised by English officials. Above all,
their health is guarded. Their daily menus — and they are
quite sumptuous — have been ordered by His Majesty's
government in London.

The sunset that second evening was glorious. Right over
our bow was a pyramid of soft white clouds; the sun sink-
ing behind them brought to light a glory of rich harmonic

38 PANAMA

colors. The whole mass shone and glistened like the great
thirteenth-century window in the chancel of Chartrej.
There was gold, bright and flaming on the edges, and the
heart of the cloud was hot orange. The sky above, clear
across to the east, was red, a thousand, thousand shades
of red. And the glory of the sky fell and was reflected in
the metallic blackness of the sea. There was an Oriental
gorgeousness about it. If one were to wave a brilliantly
colored gold-embroidered Chinese shawl above an age-old
lacquer tray, it would give some faint idea of the gorgeous-
ness of this tropical sunset.

Several of the ship's officers were on the deck watching it,
and when at last the color faded the first officer spoke up.

"It's strange," he said, "in these Western waters you get
the best sunsets; the dawn is flat and not at all impressive.
It is just the opposite in the East. The sunrises count out
there."

It was a new idea to me, and I asked the others if they
had found it so. They all backed his statement, recalling
gorgeous sunrises in the Orient, but no one could offer any
plausible explanation of the fact, they all affirmed.

In a moment's pause the doctor started up, "I remember
one time on the Red Sea — on the P. & 0. boat — it was so
hot — " That was as far as he got. The younger men
pulled his beard, ruffled his stray hairs, and poked his ribs
till he went away breathing out death and destruction on
all of them.

Day after day we slipped along through that burnished
sea. As a rule the negroes were cheerful and all went well
until the last day. The night had been unspeakably close.
It could not have been any hotter that time on the Red
Sea the doctor tries to tell about when they had to stop
the engines.

I crawled out before five in the morning, hoping to get

A CAXGO OF BLACK IVOEY 39

some air on deck. My stateroom was suffocating. Not
one of the seven hundred negroes was asleep; they were
fidgeting about from one unbearably hot position to an-
other. A couple of the officers were up on the bridge
talking in monosyllables, and I gathered that they were
planning against the possibilities which the evident unrest
among the negroes foretold. You read sometimes of sailors
feeling in the air the approach of a tornado. It was just
the same here; no one could help seeing that trouble was
brewing. The men were like tinder. For five days they
had been crowded on board with no chance for exercise,
and now, the sun barely up, the deck was almost hot enough
to fry eggs.

The fire-hose was run out and the decks flooded to cool
them, and the hose was left in place to cool the men if need
be.

There were a few scuffles during the morning, and four
men, one after another, were ironed and chucked into the
brig. It was a hard time for the crowd of negroes, but it
was certainly little — if any — easier for the few white men.

Trouble came with a rush over lunch. These negroes
probably had never had such excellent meals before. But
the fates arranged that just this last day, when every one
was wearied and cross, things should go wrong in the
kitchen. Perhaps the heat had affected the ccok — or per-
haps some direct rays of the sun had fallen on the rice —
anyhow, it was scorched beyond eating.

I suppose the first fifty negroes who were served chucked
their rice overboard when they tasted it; no one is hungry
in such weather. But at last it came to a trouble-maker.
He swore loudly that it was not fit for a pig, that he would
not stand such an outrage, that the steward was making a
fortune out of them, etc. Part of what he said was un-
heeded, but a word here and there was taken up and passed

40 PANAMA

along, growing, of course, from mouth to mouth. Inside of
five minutes every negro on board felt that life without a
good portion of unscorched rice was not worth living. A
growl rolled back and forth from bow to stern, growing
deeper every trip. It was what we had been dreading all
day.

Half our little company pushed through the angry crowd
to the door of the kitchen, for there was some talk of rush-
ing that. The first officer in the bow, the second officer in
the stern, each with a negro quartermaster and two or three
able-bodied seamen, manned the fire-hose. The rest of us
formed a sort of reserve on the bridge. This display of
force cooled their ardor for a minute. No one of them
wanted to be a leader; they just groaned and growled and
howled. Almost all of them had crowded up forward in
the bow. The captain stepped out on the bridge and asked
what was wrong. A hundred began yelling out their
grievances at once. The captain — he has a voice like a
fog-horn — ordered them to be still.

"I can't understand when you all speak at once. Send
me a delegation, three men."

Then the negroes began to palaver. As far as I could
see six men volunteered. They were all rejected. It was
ten minutes before they chose their committee, and one of
them lost his nerve just at the foot of the ladder to the
bridge. They had to go back and get another man. Some-
how it had a ludicrous, comic-opera effect.

But the captain listened gravely to the committee and
tasted the rice. He threw it overboard with a grunt of
disgust — it must have been pretty bad. He talked for a
moment with the pale-faced steward and then stepped out
where all the angry crowd could see him. I think with a
good joke he might have saved the situation — but the joke
failed him.

A CARGO OF BLACK IVOEY 41

"I am sorry about the rice," he said; "I have tried my
best to give you good food, and this is our last day. To-
morrow we will be in harbor and have fresh food. This
afternoon at three the steward will give you iced tea, and
I will see that you have an especially good supper to-night."

"But we want rice!" some one yelled.

However, the captain's little speech had appealed to the
common sense of most of the crowd, and only a few took
up this cry. But things suddenly took another turn. There
were on board some deck passengers who were not contract
laborers — several families of negroes. And one girl — she did
not look above eighteen — I had already noted as a source
of trouble. During the captain's speech the three delegates
had climbed down to the deck unobserved and were lost in
the crowd. Suddenly, just when things were seeming to
smooth out, this girl jumped on a trunk and began to
scream :

"Where's our committee? They've put them into the
black hole!"

She yelled a lot more, but no one could hear her because
of the cry which went up from the mob. Her words were
like a whip. In an instant the crowd would be moving.
The captain put his hands to his mouth as a megaphone
and bellowed to the chief officer:

"Stand by with the hose!"

"Ay, ay, sir!" the response came back.

"Now, gentlemen," he said to us, "we must shut up that
girl."

I saw his hand go to his hip pocket, and suddenly I re-
membered the story he had told about the coolies in the
China Sea, and it did not seem like comic opera any more.

He took a step forward to jump down into the maddened
crowd on deck. Then help came from an unexpected
source. The captain's shouted order and the reply which

42 PANAMA

rang back had quieted the crowd for an instant. It had
not pacified them, but they had stopped their shouting to
gather breath for fight. And just in this lull a new voice
rose — or rather fell. It was from the lookout in the crow's
nest.

"Land ho!" he sang out. "Land on the port bow-ow!"

It saved the day. Two or three on the outskirts of the
mob ran to the rail for a look. "Land!" they shouted.
Of course they could not see it; it was not yet visible from
the bridge, barely in sight from the crow's nest, but equally
of course they thought they could. The crowd melted
away instantly; every one wanted to see land. Each
cloud on the southern horizon, one after another, was picked
out as South America. When a baby bumps his nose and
you stop his crying by barking like a dog, it is the same
thing. The excitement of "Land ho!" had made them for-
get the scorched rice.

"Anglo-Saxon luck," the captain said to me.

By three o'clock, when the iced tea came out, the moun-
tain tops of Colombia were in plain sight and everybody
was happy. They were further distracted from mischief
about five o'clock when the wheel was thrown hard over
and we turned south. We were close inland now, and the
ground swell was choppy; most of them were seasick again.
We dropped anchor a little after sunset and they began to
sing.

There were more formalities with the health officers in
the morning. Everybody had his temperature taken and
was re-examined for trachoma. Those whose vaccination
had not "taken," went through that ordeal again. And
then these seven hundred negroes scattered over the Isth-
mus to help us dig the ditch.

Although they are not interested in anything but their
dollar a day, I warrant that their children's children will

A CARGO OF BLACK IVORY AT THE COLON DOCK.

A CAKGO OF BLACK IVOEY 43

boast that their grandfathers worked on this job. And I
wonder what their children's children will be like. These
men are free, their grandfathers were slaves. That is im-
mense progress for a race to make in two generations! If
their children and grandchildren keep up the pace there is
great hope for the negroes.

Just as I was going down the gang-plank, the doctor
nagged me.

"One time on a P. and O. boat — down in the Red
Sea . . ."

But I was too eager to be ashore to hear him out.

CHAPTER III

THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909

IT was good to land at Colon and see some workaday
Americans. For a month I had been among the carefully
dressed Britishers of the colonies. It was a joy to see men
in flannel shirts and khaki, mud up to their knees, grime on
their hands, sweat on their brow — men who were working
like galley slaves in a poisonous climate, digging the biggest
ditch on earth, and proud of it.

Colon is a nondescript sort of place; there are docks and
railway yards and Chinese lotteries and Spanish restaurants
and an "Astor House" which reminds one much more of
Roaring Camp than of Broadway. There are many mining
towns near the Mexican border which one might well mis-
take for Colon.

One of the Panama Railway steamers had come in during
the morning, bringing mail and newspapers from home and a
number of the Canal employees back from their leave in
" the States." One of them attracted my attention; he was
standing on the railway platform among a group in khaki
who had come down from their work to welcome him back.
They were asking him endless questions about "God's
country" and making much sport of his " store clothes,"
and especially of some Nile-green socks. He pulled up his
trousers and strutted about pretending to be vastly proud
of them, but it was easy to see that he was keen to be back
in his work clothes. Their "joshing" was a bit rough, but
good-natured. For they are a free-and-easy lot. these

44

THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 45

modern frontiersmen of ours, undismayed by the odds
against them.

The Panama Railway is our first experiment in Govern-
ment ownership; and, as it is always enjoyable to see some-
thing accomplished which people have for a long time
thought impossible, it was a pleasure to see what a thor-
oughly good railway it is.

An old college friend met me at the dock, and, after we
had looked over the railway, took me out to his quarters.
The boundary of the Canal Zone runs through the city of
Colon, and the American side of the line is called Cristo-
bal. Many of the houses were built by the old French
company, but the camp has grown, since the American
occupation. All those who work for the Canal Commis-
sion are given quarters free of charge ; and they are very
good quarters. Some of the bachelors have single rooms,
sometimes two have a double room together. There are
broad, shaded porches about all the American buildings,
and every living-place is guarded with mosquito gauze.
The quarters are allotted on a regular scale of so many
square feet of floor space to every hundred dollars of salary.
The employees are infinitely more comfortable than in any
other construction camp I have ever seen. The furniture
is ample: table and Morris chairs and comfortable beds.
Everything is wonderfully clean. There are abundant
baths for every one, and of course the sanitary arrangements
are perfect. The bachelor quarters would compare favor-
ably with the ordinary college dormitory.

We did not have time to inspect any of the married men's
quarters before our train left for Panama, but my friend
tells me that they are even more pleasant than his. Two
minutes out from Christobel the train jumps into the jun-
gle. And this jungle is one of the things which defeated
de Lesseps. The engineering problems which face us are

46 PANAMA

practically the same as those which the French tackled; of
course, we have better machinery and more money. But
one of our greatest advantages is W. C. Gorgas, chief sani-
tary officer of the Canal Zone. He is the army doctor who
cleaned up Havana. He had a much harder job on the
Isthmus. Even to the layman who knows no more than I
of anopheles and stegomyia, the excessively heavy vegetation
of the jungle looks threateningly sinister. It is Colonel
Gorgas who has pulled its teeth. My friend tells me that
there has not been a case of yellow fever on the Zone for three
and a half years. And to-day there are only a quarter
as many men in the hospital with the dreaded Chagres
fever as there were in 1906. The health statistics of the
Zone compare favorably with those of any of our home
cities.

There was a motley crowd on our train. In the second
class carriage there were merry West Indian negroes, sullen
Spanish and light-hearted Italian laborers. I noticed espe-
cially a seat full of Martinique women — their gaudy, elabo-
rate turbans would mark them anywhere. Close beside
them were some East Indian coolies — men with Caucasian
features and ebony skin. They wear queer little em-
broidered caps; it is all that is left of their native costume.
The faces of some of them are remarkably fine and intel-
lectual. There was also a fair sprinkling of Chinese.

Most noticeable in my carriage was a group of Pana-
manian women, darker skinned than the women of Spain,
but still keeping many characteristics of the mother land.
My friend called them "spiggoty" women, and then told
me that "spiggoty" is Zone slang for anything native, be-
cause in the early days the Panamanians, when addressed,
used to reply, "No spiggoty Inglis."

Most of the first-class passengers, however, were Ameri-
cans, Some were evidently of the Administration — their

TEE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 47

soft hands and clean clothes marked them. And I imagine
that they are rather looked down upon by the "men on the
line," the civil and mechanical engineers, who swagger
about, plainly proud of the marks of toil. And there are
women too — clean-cut American girls, just such as you
would see on a train leading into a co-education college
town.

"Gatun!" the conductor calls.

Gatun and Culebra are, I suppose, the two Isthmian
names most known in the States. My friend pointed out
to me the toes of the great dam. But it isn't a dam they
are building; it is a mountain range. It is to be half
a mile wide and a mile and a half long, high enough to
hold the water up to a level of eighty-five feet above the
sea. They have barely commenced work on this great
wall, but it already presents a suggestion of its future mas-
siveness which makes the newspaper sensations about its
inadequacy a joke. How could a wall fifteen times as wide
as it is high fall over? There are some chronic critics who
say that the water will leak through it. But this dam is
only a part of the wall of hills which will hold in the great
lake. And why this specially prepared hill should be more
porous than the others, which nature has thrown together
haphazard, is more than I can see.

From Gatun the train goes through territory which is to
be the lake. For twenty-three miles the ships will cross
this artificial lake to Culebra Cut. Never before has man
dreamed of taking such liberties with nature, of making
such sweeping changes in the geographical formation of a
country. Here are we Americans dropping down into the
heart of a jungle of unequaled denseness, building a young
mountain, balancing a lake of 160 odd square miles on the
top of the continental divide, gouging out a canon 10 miles
long, 300 feet wide, and in some places over 250 feet deep.

48 PANAMA

Think about that for a minute and then be proud that
you are an American.

All the technical things my friend told me about millions
of yards of subaqueous excavation, and so forth, meant
nothing to me. But looking out of the car window mile
after mile as we passed through what is soon to be the bed
of this artificial lake, I caught some faint idea of the magni-
tude of the project.

"Look!" my friend cried suddenly. "See that machine
— it looks like a steam crane — it is a track-shifter. Invented
by one of our engineers. You see, on the dumps, where
we throw out the spoil from the cuts, we have to keep shifting
the tracks to keep the top of the dump level. Well, it took
an awful lot of time to do it by hand. So we developed
that machine. It just takes hold of a section of track, rails
and ties and all, hoists it up out of its ballast, and swings it
over to where we want it. Does in an hour what a gang of
twenty men could not do in a week. They're not used much
anywhere else in the world. You see, there isn't any other
place where they have to shift track on so large a scale."

They seem vastly proud of this track-shifter down here.

"And this is Gorgona," he said, a minute later. "Those
shops over there are the largest of their kind in the world —
repairing machinery. We can mend anything in there from
a locomotive to a watch-spring."

One gets tired of this "largest in the world" talk. But
it is only as you accustom yourself to the idea that each
integral part of the work is of unequaled proportions that
you begin to sense the grandeur of the whole undertaking.
The largest dam, the highest locks, the greatest artificial
lake, the deepest cut, the biggest machine shops, the heaviest
consumption of dynamite, the most wonderful sanitary
system — all these and others which I forget are unique — the
top point of human achievement. After an hour of this

THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 49

talk I gained a new respect for Uncle Sam. — a new respect
for his children who have conceived and are executing this
gigantic thing.

The whistle blew in the shops at Gorgona as we pulled
into the station, and there was a rush for places in the
train. Four men just from their work tumbled into the
double seat before me. Fine fellows they were, despite the
yellow malarial tinge of their skin and the grimy sweat
which ran in little rivulets down their sooty faces. The
hands with which they brushed off the beads of perspiration
were black and greasy from their work. They wore no
coats, and their shirts, wringing wet, stuck close to their
backs, and the play of their muscles as they relaxed after
the day's strain showed as plainly as if they had been nude.
I tried to follow their conversation — which was very earn-
est— but could not, as it was all about some new four-
cylinder engine with a mysterious kind of alternate action.

A few miles farther down the line we came to Empire.
The scene on the platform recalled a suburban station on
some line out of New York, for, except a few Chinamen
and Spaniards, the crowd was just the same as that which
comes down to meet the commuters on an evening train
after the work-day is over. One group caught my atten-
tion. A young mother of thirty, in the crispest, whitest
lawn, was holding a baby. Beside her stood a sister, like
a Gibson summer girl. The younger woman held by the
hand a little lad of four with Jeanne d'Arc hair, bare legs,
a white Russian tunic, and a black belt. Fresh from the
bath-tub they looked, all four of them. And while I was
admiring the picture they made and wondering at the
strange chance which had brought such a New Jersey group
down here under the equator the mother's face lighted up
and she waved her hand. Two of those grimy men who had
sat before me swung off the steps of the car and came

50 PANAMA

towards them. One was the father. Holding his hands
stiffly behind him so as not to soil anything, he bent for-
ward and kissed his wife. Then, one after the other, the
children were held up to him for a kiss. The other man,
somewhat younger, took off his battered hat with a gallant
sweep to the sister. He greeted her as formally as if it had
been Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue. Neither of them
seemed to realize that he looked like a coal miner. They
loitered behind as they went up the hill to the quarters.
He walked as close to her white skirt as he dared, and had
something very serious to say to her, for they laughed just
as Americans do when they are talking earnestly.

It is between Gorgona and Empire that you get your first
look into Culebra Cut. It is as busy a place as an anthill.
It seems to be alive with machinery; there are, of course,
men in the cut too, but they are insignificant, lost among
the mechanical monsters which are jerking work-trains
about the maze of tracks, which are boring holes for the
blasting, which are tearing at the spine of the continent —
steam shovels which fill a car in five moves, steam shovels
as accurate and delicate as a watch, as mighty — Well, I
can think of nothing sufficiently mighty to compare with
these steel beasts which eat a thousand cubic yards a day
out of the side of the hills.

But it is not till you get beyond the cut and, looking
back, see the profile of the ditch against the sunset that you
get the real impression — the memory which is to last. The
scars on the side of the cut are red, like the rocks of our great
Western deserts. The work has stopped, and the great
black shovels are silhouetted against the red of the sky.
Then there comes a moment, as your train winds round a
curve, when the lowering sun falls directly into the notch
of the cut and it is all illumined in an utterly unearthly
glory.

TEE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 51

The night falls rapidly in the tropics, and when, a few
minutes later, we reached Panama, it was too dark to see
anything of the quaint old city, so we drove at once to
Ancon, the American suburb, and put up at the Tivoli, the
Government hotel. It was a lucky chance which brought
me there on that day, as I saw a phase of life which I might
otherwise have missed. A couple of dozen Congressmen
had come down on an unofficial visit to the Zone, so that
when they got back to Washington and anything was said
about the Canal they could jump up and contradict it, and
say, "I know, because I've been there." It is safe to say
that the men on the Isthmus are more afraid of Congress-
men than they are of yellow fever mosquitoes. The Canal
Commission has its plans all worked out; if Congress will
grant them the money — and leave them alone— -the Canal
will be built on schedule time. Yet not only their personal
reputations, but, what is much more important, the success
of the work, is utterly at the mercy of Congress. Several
bills are presented in each session which, if passed, would
seriously cripple the work. And these bills must be acted
upon by men who know little or nothing of engineering.
When the men down here have nightmares, it is not of hob-
goblins they dream, but of Congressmen. I certainly hope
that the average of intelligence in the House is higher than
among the Representatives I saw at the Tivoli. At the
table next to mine, when the waiter put some ice in his
glass, I heard a Congressman ask how much of the ice on
the Isthmus was artificial. I could see the face of the man
who was doing the honors. He deserves a medal for the
serious way in which he explained that in the tropics all
ice is artificial. I overheard some others discussing sani-
tation.

"You can never make me believe/' said one, "that a
mosquito bite can give a man yellow fever."

52 PANAMA

"I don't know," another replied. "But even if it is true,
four million dollars is an awful lot to spend killing them."

My friend told me that one of the Congressmen, when he
was shown the site of the locks at Gatun, became wildly
indignant and said he thought that Congress had decided
on a sea-level canal.

And these men will go home and make speeches, out of
their copious ignorance, on the floor of the House, and,
what is worse, among their constituents, where there is
some chance of their being believed. And after every mis-
statement they will say, impressively, "I know, because
I've been there."

After the dinner I found that a ball was to be given in
honor of the Congressmen. The day's work was over, and
even the presence of the critics from home could not keep
the employees from having a good time. The parlor of the
Tivoli makes as fine a ball-room as any I know. And a
prettier, daintier crowd of women I have never seen. Hot
water and grit soap had been busy on the men, and the
scene, except that some of the men were in white, looked
like a college dance. I was especially pleased to see the
young couple I had noticed down the line. I never would
have recognized the man if I had not seen him dancing with
the girl. Cleaned and polished, with an orchid on the lapel
of his dinner-coat, he looked about as different from the
grimy young engineer of five o'clock as could well be im-
agined.

It was rather a shock, when I went to my room and
looked out of the window, to find the moon rising out of
the Pacific Ocean. There are not many places on the
American continent where this phenomenon is to be seen.
Of course, by looking at the map, you can see that the
Isthmus is like a letter S, with Colon, the Atlantic terminus
of the Canal, west of Panama on the Pacific; but somehow

THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 53

it did not reconcile me to the confusion of directions. It
took some time to accustom myself to looking eastward to
see the Western Ocean.

I turned in with an unusual sense of satisfaction. The
two big impressions that first day on the Isthmus had given
me were: First, the sublime confidence of the men — the
absence of any doubt as to eventual achievement. "Of
course we'll dig the ditch." And, second, the esprit de corps
implied in the "we" of that expression. I did not hear
any one talk of what he as an individual was doing. Nor
did I hear any one tell of what "they" were doing — it is
always "we." An ink-stained clerk from the Department
of Civil Administration, who never had any more intimate
connection with a steam shovel than I have, said to me
boastfully: "Well, we knocked the top off the record for
dry excavation again this month." It is what Maeterlinck
calls "the Spirit of the Hive."

For a people with such undaunted confidence and this
trick of pulling together there is no limit to achievement.

CHAPTER IV

COLON AND PANAMA CITY

HAVING once crossed the Isthmus to Panama City there
is very little in Colon to call one back — except the boats
home.

There is nothing distinctive about Colon. There are a
dozen towns scattered along the Caribbean Sea which are
similarly unattractive. It has much better health now-a-
days than its neighboring rivals — but there are no " tourist
possibilities" in a Sanitary Record.

However, if you must go there, you will find a broad,
well-paved street with shipping docks on one side — cutting
off the sea breeze — and on the other a fairly regular sequence
of chances to change your money to native currency, to
buy a drink, a picture post-card, a Chinese curio, a lottery
ticket — change your money and so on. The saloons are
the most ambitious enterprises of Front Street. Two of
them boast of "lady orchestras" and one advertises a
"Palm Room."

The shipping business is of course immense. French,
German, English and American passenger boats call regu-
larly. And I doubt if there is a flag afloat which does not
sometimes visit Colon on a freighter. The trans-shipping
of cargoes to and from the Pacific makes a great show of
busy-ness.

But in all this the natives of the Isthmus have little part
or interest. When I last came down on a Hamburg-Ameri-
can boat, we picked up a deck-crew of negroes at one of the
West India islands.

54

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 55

The Panamanian — be he gentleman in fine white linen or
peon in part of a pair of overalls — sits languorously in the
shade of a palm tree or a packing case and drowsily watches
the rush of modern commerce — goods manufactured abroad,
carried in foreign bottoms, handled by alien crews, put on an
American railroad. Of the millions of dollars, pounds ster-
ling, francs, marks which pass through his country, what
little sticks in transit goes to Chinese merchants and Yankee
saloon keepers.

Doubtless the Lord could have made a less ambitious peo-
ple than the natives of Colon — but doubtless He never did.

There is a certain amount of historic interest in the very
unimposing monument to the founders of the Panama
Railroad. There is some charming surprise in the little
stone church, built by the railroad for its employees — a bit
of Suburban Gothic. The lack of the ivy — which will not
grow in these parts — makes it look forlorn and homesick.
And there is much surpassing beauty in the sea view from
the Washington Hotel — a broad lawn, a file of cocoa palms
and the roaring surf. The cocoanut palm is one of the most
strikingly frequent — as it is one of the most lovable — features
of the tropics. Their charm, I think, lies in their extreme
individualism. Even in what they call a "cocoanut grove,"
each palm stands out alone. They have no social ties — are
absolutely unconventional. Each has its peculiar list and
its unique way of swaying. And there is no tree which
combines so well with the sea.

Panama City — across the continent, but only two hours
away — is a different proposition from Colon.

Near the railroad station the main street is distressingly
like Colon for its sequence of business opportunities. But
beyond the Calle 8, which like the Paris boulevards used to
be a mighty fortification, you enter a city which has per-
sonality. Just to the left of what used to be the Land

56 PANAMA

Gate — there was a moat and drawbridge in the old days —
stands the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Merced. It
dates from the end of. the seventeenth century and is the
second oldest church in the city. To a large extent Panama
has been Hausmannized by the American sanitary engi-
neers. Streets have been graded and straightened and
paved, disease infected shacks have been demolished. Still
many crooked streets and picturesque bits remain.

No matter how short one's stop in the city a visit to the
"Sea Wall" should not be omitted. This is the best rem-
nant of the old fortifications. And there was nothing the
Spanish colonial administrations did on a more imposing
scale than fort building. These cost so much that the
Spanish king is reported to have said that they ought to
be visible from his palace in Madrid.

When the tide is in — it rises twenty feet — the waves wash
the foot of the old wall. There is a waist-high parapet on
top and within it a broad cement promenade. If you walk
heavily the prisoners in the cells below can hear your foot-
steps. On the land side you can look down into the prison
yard. It is distressing enough — as are prison yards the
world over. Further inland you see a strange skyline —
ancient church towers decorated with mother-of-pearl, and
modern corrugated iron roofs. It is a comfort to know
that the ugliest part of the American town of Ancon will
soon disappear.

But seaward the view is by itself worth the long voyage.
Up the coast to your right is Balboa — the Pacific entrance
to the Canal. It is a busy, smoky place of tugs and dredges,
machine-shops and the West Coast steamers. Close in
shore are the three little islands of Naos, Flemengo and
Culebra. It is this group which Congress has decided to
fortify. Farther out you see the larger and more beautiful
Taboga. The geologists say that these islands were the

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 57

side outlets of the great prehistoric volcano whose principal
core made Ancon hill, back of Panama.

Straight out before you is the blue Pacific — it knows how
to be bluer than the Atlantic ever dreamed of.

To your left the peaks of the Cordilleras — which the Canal
pierces at its lowest divide — rise higher and higher to east-
ward. It is only a question of the clearness of the atmos-
phere how far you can see them. The coast — an alterna-
tion of white sand beach and mangrove swamp — swings
around Panama Bay towards Cape Brava and the Pearl
Islands. It was down there somewhere towards the edge
of the horizon where Europeans first saw the Pacific from
America. There is a hill within the Canal Zone, which
rumor says was the eminence from which Balboa first saw
the sea — it is stated as a fact in Nelson's "Five Years in
Panama" — but the records show conclusively that Balboa
crossed the Isthmus much further to the east.

If the sun is at just the right angle to bring out the con-
trast between gray and green you can see the ruins of Old
Panama from the Sea Wall. All that the Buccaneer Mor-
gan left on end in the old metropolis was the tower of the
church of Saint Anastasius. The weather beaten gray
stones are surrounded and overgrown by tropical vegeta-
tion. It is more than hard to see from a distance unless
one knows exactly where to look.

There are two times when the Sea Wall is at its best.
Just at sun-down — the breathing time in the tropics — it
generally offers as good an opportunity to observe the
people of Panama as one can get in a short stay. The
stroll on the fortifications is as necessary an apertitif for
some of the natives as an absinthe is for a Parisian.

But the superlative time to enjoy the Sea Wall is on a
night of the dry season. The full February moon coming
up out of the sea is something to hold in the memory along-

58 PANAMA

side of Rubens' Venus of the Hermitage or the Taj Mahal
— things which one must travel far to see and having seen
have not lived wholly in vain. By day the horizon seems
very far away, but when the moon slips up over it at night,
it seems almost within speaking distance.

Hardly less glorious are the moonless nights. Canopus
and Eldeberon and the Southern Cross — all the stars which
Stevenson loved so well — burn so close and so brilliantly,
that you hold your breath in wonder that you are not
scorched by their heat.

All the literature of the tropics is full of expressions of
wonder at how they — once seen — call you, till like Kip-
ling's Tommy Atkins, "y°u can't heed nothing else." They
speak meaningly of the discomforts, the heat, the filth, the
smells, the vermin, the innumerable diseases, and are sur-
prised that people who have escaped always want to — some-
times do — come back. I think the nights — the moon and
the stars — explain it.

The Cathedral Plaza, in the center of the city, is also a
place of interest — and some beauty of foliage. It has never
seemed to me that the Spaniards knew anything particu-
larly worth while about architecture except what they
learned from the Moors. Their architects in the American
colonies seem to have forgotten most of that. There are
no beautiful dwellings nor public buildings. But some of
the churches are impressive — and interesting from their
stories.

The Cathedral for instance was built from the private
purse of a Bishop of Panama, whose father, a freed negro
slave, burned charcoal on the side of Ancon Hill and ped-
dled it on his back in the streets of the city — as one may
see the peons doing to-day. The Episcopal See of Panama
is the oldest on the American continent. The first church
was built in a temporary colony on the Atlantic side —

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 59

Santa Maria de la Antiqua del Darien. The seat of the
Bishopric, however, was soon changed to Old Panama and
no trace of the earlier settlement is left. This bishop was
the first of negro blood in America and probably the first
of native birth to wear the mitre. Although it was started
long before, the cathedral was not completed until 1760.

Its most unique architectural feature is the mother-of-
pearl decoration on the crowns of the two towers. Next in
value to the Peruvian wealth which flowed across the
Isthmus, came the pearl trade from the islands off San
Miguel Bay. The roofs of the towers were covered with
fine red cement in which were embedded pearl shells from
the fisheries. Even after all these years, when the sun
breaks out after a shower which has washed the dust from
the shells, they sparkle and flash like great jewels. They
can be seen far out at sea like some giant heliograph and are
mentioned as a landmark in some of the old books on navi-
gation.

In the days when the cathedral was building the See of
Panama was one of the richest in the world. Votive offer-
ings of priceless pearls — tradition speaks of one as big as an
apple — ingots of gold and silver were offered by the hardy
and devout rapscallion adventurers of the day. Among
other treasures the cathedral boasted an authentic Madonna
by Murillo. What became of all these riches when the
property of the church was sold by the State has never
been satisfactorily explained by the officials involved. The
lost Murillo has probably rotted away — forgotten in some
garret.

The oldest church in the city is that of San Felipe Neri.
The keystone of its entrance arch is dated 1688. It is
close to the Plaza Bolivar. Although little of its exterior
is visible — having been built about by a girls' school — it is
well worth a visit. It shows how, in the buccaneer days,

60 PANAMA

the Spaniards trusted in God and built their church walls
to resist a siege. San Felipe near the Sea Gate, and La
Merced at the Land Gate, were redoubtable fortresses.

The Church of San Francisco on the Plaza Bolivar has
been very little restored and probably stands to-day more
nearly as it was built than any of the old churches. It was
completed about 1740. Its old cloisters have been revised
and turned into the College de la Salle by the Congregation
of Christian Brothers. But the ancient convent has been
torn down. The Sisters of St. Francis led a life not unlike
that of the modern Trappist Monks — severe in the extreme.
Once the door had closed on them they never left the Con-
vent. After the religious orders were expelled, the halls
hallowed by the sanctity of these devoted women were
turned into a theatre. And there La divine Sarah cast her
spells when she visited the Isthmus in the eighties. It was
an experience which she has probably never forgotten.
For she entirely upset the heart of one of Panama's leading
Chinese merchants. This bizarre Celestial expressed his
sentimental crisis by touching off an immense package of
fire-crackers. The play was — I believe — "La dame aux
camilles" and the scene in which Bernhardt dies so ex-
quisitely came to an abrupt — and hysterical — end.

San Domingo is the best of the ruins. Tradition has it
that the Dominican monks planned and built their own
church. They had trouble with the arch near the front
entrance which supported the organ loft. The first one fell
as soon as the supports were removed. Again they built it,
and again it fell. The same thing happened a third time.
Then they decided that there was something wrong with
their plan. Another monk, who was not supposed to be an
engineer nor an architect, had a dream and produced a new
plan. When the arch for a fourth time was completed and
the supports were about to be withdrawn, the designer stood

THE VIEW FROM THE TIVOLI.

Copyright by Fishbaugh.

CULEBRA CUT IN 1909.

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 61

under it, with folded arms — staking not only his reputation
as a dreamer but also his life on his inspired arch. It stood.
And a most wonderful arch it is. It is almost flat, and is
absolutely unique. A somewhat similar arch — copied from
it, but not so long — can be seen in the Church of San Fran-
cisco. San Domingo — as well as most of the city — was
destroyed by fire in 1737. There is nothing left now except
the walls and this marvellous arch. If you ask any of the
canal engineers whether the earthquakes are likely to dis-
turb their work they will show you the ruins of San Domingo
where this flat arch has stood — without any lateral support —
for nearly three centuries.

The ruins of the old Jesuit College — which was destroyed
by the same fire of 1737 — are mostly torn down or built
about. The chapel where these devoted missionaries wor-
shipped is now used as a cow-shed. But some very inter-
esting concrete decorations can still be seen.

The only other old churches are San Jose", on the western
sea wall, and Santa Ana, Without-the- Walls. The latter
was built as a thank offering for some long forgotten piece
of good luck which befell El Conte de Santa Ana — a roys-
tering grandee of the old days. It has an interesting altar
service of hammered silver — at least two hundred years old,
and as like as not made from some of Pizarro's Peruvian
spoils.

There is an unpleasant side to Panama City. It is
hinted at in the current witticism that "the Republic of
Panama is the Redlight District of the Canal Zone." It is
of course a gross exaggeration and an undeserved insult to
the people of the country. The American authorities have
passed laws — and are able to enforce them in the Canal
Zone — against gambling and vice. In the territory of Pan-
ama there are neither so strict laws nor so rigid enforcement.
In the two cities of Colon and Panama there are sections —

62 PANAMA

and they are the sections nearest to the American territory
— which are given over to debauchery. With thirty thou-
sand men employed on the Canal, and easy transportation
along the line, there is — as might be expected — a Saturday
night emigration across the border to the jurisdiction where
the Ten Commandments are not so effectively backed up
by the police. But on the whole the amount of red paint
which is smeared over the Republic of Panama by the
Canal employees is surprisingly small.

As in most Latin- American countries the lottery is an
established institution. It runs on a government franchise,
a certain percentage goes to public charity. It rents its
offices from the Bishop of Panama — they are in the ground
floor of the Episcopal Palace. It is strictly "honest" and
so heavily mulcted by the authorities that the stockholders
do not get the extravagant dividends one would suppose
from estimating the chances.

The roulette wheels of the French days have given place
to " poker rooms." They are no longer licensed by the gov-
ernment but are still an unmitigated disgrace. The saying
goes that " a sucker is born every minute." Having watched
one of these games a few minutes, I have decided that
most of the "suckers" grow up to what looks like man-
hood and come to the Isthmus. In these "poker rooms"
the "house rakeoff" is so high that a filled table is said to
net the proprietor $15.00 gold an hour. This is sure in-
come, "the house" gets it no matter who wins. And it is
practically impossible to make up your own table. Some
of the "house professionals" — notorious sharpers — are sure
to "sit in."

The psychology of the men who buck such a game is
beyond me. I doubt if there is an American on the Isth-
mus who is not entirely convinced that they are crooked.
Yet the tables are generally full.

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 63

A much pleasanter side of Panama life are the Sunday
night band concerts in the Cathedral Plaza. The music is
sometimes surprisingly good. And the square — always
picturesque with its tropical plants — is crowded with the
youth and beauty of the Republic. Some of the senoritas
in spite of their very dark skins are well worth turning to
look at. They stroll around the little park with their rather
fat mammas, followed at a respectful distance by their
admirers. A Panamanian lover is a faithful swain and
easily satisfied. I watched one young fellow follow his lady
eight times around the square. At every turn she looked
back and smiled at him. Mamma elaborately pretended
to ignore this passionate pursuit. The young people did
not speak to each other, and if they managed to exchange
notes they were mighty clever at it.

Courtship is a long-distance affair. Most of the houses
in the city are two-storied with stores downstairs. After
following his lady-love from the Sunday night parade in
the Plaza, the young hopeful takes up his position on the
sidewalk opposite her home. If he has found favor in her
sight she eventually appears on the balcony. The length
of time she keeps him waiting depends on her heart beats —
if they are rapid she comes quickly. Of course their con-
versation is decidedly limited by, (1) the distance, (2) the
neighbors, and, (3) mamma who sits in a rocking chair and
listens. About all the lovers can do is to smile at each
other. If the young man stands under her window on
other nights than Sunday, she has a right to consider that
he is serious. And if he ever shows up in the afternoons,
the neighbors know she has him safely hooked.

Just before Lent Panama drapes itself in bunting. These
Latin-American neighbors of ours dearly love a fiesta. And
the Carnival is the greatest of them all.

Weeks before Mardi Gras, the shops begin to display

64 PANAMA

masks and to advertise confetti. But the preliminary
interest centers in the election of the Queen. The rivalry
is high. And the election generally goes to a daughter of
wealth, for the tickets have to be paid for. The last night
of the contest the respective papas go down in their pockets
as far as they can afford to — often farther. To have your
daughter in the running is said to be almost as great a
financial misfortune as to have your bank fail. As usual
politics gets into it, and towards the last the contest generally
sifts down to two, one of the Conservative and one of the
Liberal party. It strikes an outsider as a rather unro-
mantic, sordid way of choosing a carnival queen. But the
winner — the year I was there — was pretty enough to satisfy
anyone. And she looked so radiantly happy, that I am
quite sure she did not realize that the " honor" had cost
her father close to five thousand dollars and that she might
have had a very nice motor-car instead.

The gayety lasts four days. The wealthy young men
spend their time on horseback, their sisters in carriages.
The costumes they get up are always gorgeous, sometimes
attractive.

The women of the poorer classes content themselves with
the native costume— the pollera. It is a very full and
flouncy skirt, and a waist, cut extremely low. The articles
de luxe are the side-combs, which are gorgeous. And many
of the women have red or white flowers in their hair. Some
of them giant fire-flies. Almost any sort of a gown can
look attractive on an attractive woman and that is about
all one can say in favor of the pollera. The men of the
poorer classes go in for the fantastic and hideous.

Mr. Bidwell in his "The Isthmus of Panama" quotes an
amusing bit from the letter of a French maid whom his wife
had brought to Panama. In writing to a friend at home,
she said: "II y'a d present tout plein de masques dans les

COLON AND PANAMA CITY 65

rues, comme d Paris, pendant le Carnival, seulement qu'
igi ce sont des vilains negres qui n'ont pas besoin de masques
pour faire peur" (the streets are full of maskers, just as in
Paris during the Carnival, only here they are villainous
negroes who have no need of masks to frighten one).

The dress-parade is in the Cathedral Plaza. The fun —
fast and furious — is in the Plaza de Santa Ana. There is a
very pretty ball at the Hotel Central, presided over by the
Queen and her Maidens-in-waiting, and a much noisier ball
at the Metropole.

The confetti flies for four days and nights and you do not
get it out of your hair and clothes till Lent is half over.

Panama is also far ahead of Colon as a commercial city.
It is the central market for all the native products, except
bananas, and is the distributing point for the entire
Isthmus. But here again the real natives have little in-
terest in business. There are several families with German
or Jewish names, who have lived here several generations
and are citizens of the Republic. They, with the Chinese,
control most of the trade and banking. There are several
capable business men of the Arosomena and Arrias families,
mostly occupied in real estate ventures and trading with the
Indians. But on the whole the Panamanian gentlemen go
in for politics or diplomacy. After all, there are not so very
many of them and there is an endless number of places where
a consul could be sent. There is more than one consulate
which never collected a fee. The Liberal party is now in
power, so of course some of the Conservatives have to
work.

There are two classes of Americans — exclusive of the
Canal men — to be found in Panama City: Pirates and
Pioneers.

The first are undoubtedly most numerous. Their activi-
ties run the gamut from playing stud-poker "for the house"

66 PANAMA

to promoting fake development companies. It is certainly
more livable in the States because they are here — but it is
hard on the Panamanians.

There are, however, a few earnest, upright Americans
here, who foresee the time when the riches of the country
will be needed and utilized. That there are opportunities —
especially in agriculture and grazing and lumbering — no one
who knows the country will deny.

No American can visit either Colon or Panama without a
large patriotic pride in the work of our sanitary engineers.
These cities — not so many years ago — were called the worst
pest-holes in the Americas. Our men have built water-
works, put plumbing into the dwelling houses, dug drains
and sewers, paved the streets and established so effective a
quarantine at both ports, that although there has never
been a time when some of the South American ports were
not infected, there have been no cases of yellow-fever,
beri-beri, cholera or the plague on the Isthmus for several
years. There are few places at home so much like Spotless
Town as these two tropical cities.

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

CHAPTER V

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS

THE Republic of Panama is 425 miles long and averages
70 miles in width. Its most southern point is a little above
7 degrees north of the equator, its northern point about
9° 50'. It is in the same latitude as Ceylon and Mindanao.
It is almost due south of Buffalo.

It must be remembered that when Balboa discovered the
Pacific, he christened it the Southern Sea, for the Isthmus
runs east and west. Every new arrival gets the points of
the compass twisted, because of the habit of thinking of
the Pacific as a western ocean. Panama City is south and
east of Colon, the Atlantic entrance of the Canal. In
Panama the sun rises out of the Pacific.

The land frontiers of the Republic are less than 400 miles
in the total and are about equally divided between the
Costa Rican and Colombian border. But the total coast
line is over 1200 miles, 700 of which is on the Pacific.

The most important physical feature of the Isthmus is
that here the great chain of mountains, which form the
backbone of the hemisphere — from Alaska to Patagonia —
breaks down into scattered hills and low divides. At
Culebra — where we are making our deepest cut — the pass
was only 290 feet above sea level. The highest peak in the
Republic is the Cerro del Picacho near the Costa Rican bor-
der. It is a little over 7000 feet. There are four other
mountains in the western provinces which are over 5000
feet. They gradually decrease in height to the center

67

68 PANAMA

of the Isthmus and then begin to climb again towards
the Colombian borders, where they again approach 5000
feet.

The Republic is divided into the following provinces:
(1) Bocas del Toro, (2) Chiriqui, (3) Veraguas, (4) Los
Santos, (5) Code", (6) Colon, and (7) Panama. The last is
by far the largest, more than a third of the total, and Code
is the smallest.

Bocas del Toro (the mouths of the bull) is the extreme
northwest. It is notable for the wonderful Almirante Bay
and Chiriqui Lagoon. They are really one body of water,
as the long, narrow peninsula which divides them is almost
an island. It will be remembered by students of President
Lincoln's administration that this was one of the locations
considered by our Government for a naval station. In fact,
it is almost certain that if Lincoln had not been assassinated
we would have acquired the Lagoon. He had been deeply
impressed by the difficulty of blockading the Gulf ports
without some such base and he kept Seward busy trying to
acquire one of the West India islands or some post on the
mainland.

The Chiriqui Lagoon is thirty-five miles long from east
to west and about twelve miles wide. It is an unbroken
sheet of water and navigable for the biggest warships.

Almirante Bay — really the northwestern extension of the
Lagoon — is a maze of waterways between its numerous
islands. It has, however, a number of fairly large harbors
and deep water in most of its channels. In many places the
banks are so abrupt that a deep draught steamer can tie up
to the shore. The mainland is a tableland about 600 feet
high and within a few miles reaches an elevation of 2000
feet. It is remarkably salubrious, and on account of its ideal
facilities for bathing and small boating and its marvellous
scenery seems doomed to develop into a smart winter resort.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 69

At present the province is practically a feudal domain of
the United Fruit Company, and banana growing is its prin-
cipal industry. The Chanquinolo River is one of the finest
spots in the world for this fruit. There is said to be coal of
good quality in the province, but it has never been mined.

Bocas del Toro, a town of about 6000 inhabitants, is the
capital of the province. It is built on an island at the
mouth of Almirante Bay and B a very busy port of export.
About five steamers and as many sailing vessels clear from
Boca every week, loaded down to the scuppers with fruit.

The Province of Chiriqui lies to the south and east of
Bocas del Toro. It has considerable frontage on both
oceans.

David, the capital, has about 8000 inhabitants and is
rapidly growing. It is the largest inland city of the Re-
public and far and away the most progressive.

There has long been a large grain and cattle trade in this
province and new crops are being planted, new industries
started with surprising frequency. It is the favorite loca-
tion for foreign settlers. The reports one hears from those
who have gone in for agriculture are generally favorable.

In 1910 the government authorized the building of a rail-
road from Panama City to David. A good deal of money
was spent on surveys, and the talk of a railroad generated
considerable land speculation in Chiriqui and the intervening
provinces. Perhaps this was the end which the framers of
the bill had in view. It was hardly a practical project.
Neither the present population along the proposed route
nor the rosiest estimates of the value of the undeveloped
resources in the neighborhood warranted so great an outlay.
Happily this scheme was vetoed in time. Some of the
money is to be spent in harbor improvements and in short
lines and better roads inland.

In the early colonial days the Spaniards worked some

70 PANAMA

very rich gold mines in the mountains of Chiriqui, and one
of the most popular industries to-day is that of trying to
relocate these lost mines.

It is here also that the signs of the highest pre-Colombian
civilization have been found. The high development of art
and architecture with which Cortez met in Mexico, seems
to have petered out to the southward. In the other states
of Central America some imposing ruins have been found.
The largest are in Guatemala. In Costa Rica there are
few signs of architectural development and the pottery and
implements are more crude. In Chiriqui one finds only
a few "painted stones" and graves. A popular form of
vacation for the American employees on the Canal is to go
grave-robbing in the country back of David. A native
walks in front of you and pounds the ground with an iron
rod. If he gets a hollow sound, he digs. If he strikes a
grave you are almost sure to find weird pottery and some-
times gold ornaments. M. de Zeltner, a former French
Consul at Panama, has written an interesting brochure on
the prehistoric graves of this district. And the Smithsonian
Institute has published an elaborate description of them.

Farther east, is the Province of Veraguas — wedge-shaped,
with only a few miles on the Atlantic coast and a couple of
hundred on the Pacific. It is remarkable for its beautiful
islands and Montijo Bay, the second of the great harbors of
the Isthmus.

Coiba Island is the largest in the Republic. It is more
than twenty miles long, well wooded and fertile, but it is
very sparsely settled. Jicaran, further out to sea, is much
smaller, but rises 1400 feet above the sea. It is the most
beautiful of all — a real distinction along a coast studded
with beautiful islands.

Montijo Bay is fourteen miles long by nine broad. Ce-
baco, an island fifteen miles long, stretches across its en-

THE GEOGEAPHT OF THE ISTHMUS 71

trance and makes it one of the most sheltered harbors ever
contrived by nature.

Veraguas, and the small Province of Los Santos, form
together a peninsula which reaches to the southern extrem-
ity of the Isthmus. The coast then turns back — an acute
angle — and runs northwest up to Parita Bay and the Prov-
ince of Code".

These three provinces are the least developed of the
Republic. They are sparsely settled. The blood of the
population varies between the formulae: one tenth Span-
iard, one tenth Cholo Indian, eight-tenths negro, and one-
tenth Spanish, one-tenth negro, eight-tenths Indian. Near
the coast the negro strain predominates, in the hills that of
the Indians.

The roads are the merest trails — impassable, even for
Indians on foot, during much of the rainy season. There is
very little circulation of commodities beyond navigable
water. The population has the ingrown indolence which
comes from life in such bountiful countries. It is only
necessary to scratch the earth with a stick to make yams
and plantains grow. The only tools needed for rice are a
pair of hands. And one could not stop the plentiful har-
vest of cocoanuts if one tried.

Colon Province is the extreme north of the Isthmus.
What has just been said about the three provinces to the
west applies to it, with the exception of Colon City. And
this city is entirely the work of foreigners. It was founded,
and at first called "Aspinwall," by the Panama Railroad
Company in 1850.

The province, however, is rich in historical interest.
Columbus himself visited the coast on his last voyage in
1502. He named Puerto Bello, and what is now called
Colon Harbor, he christened Navy Bay. Not far from the
present City of Colon he attempted to found a colony — it

72 PANAMA

would have been the first on the continent. His brother
Bartholomew landed with a company of settlers, but the
day before the great admiral sailed away they were attacked
by the Indians and driven to the ships. It was along this
shore that Don Diego de Nicuesa, seven years later, strove
so desperately to gain a foothold for his sovereign. He had
set out with a brilliant following to establish a Spanish col-
ony and met with a series of almost incredible disasters.
Beaten back by the savage natives, buffeted by storms, his
ships eaten by worms, he and the pitiful remnant of his
expedition came to a favorable looking harbor. "In the
name of God," he cried, "let us stop here." "Nombre de
Dios," they called the place; it is still on the map.

East along the coast from Colon is the Gulf of San Bias,
named after the most unique tribe of Indians left in Amer-
ica. The San Bias have never been conquered. And they
have preserved their ethnic purity as intact as their terri-
tory. Their coast is famous for its cocoanuts — the finest
on the market. A number of schooners trade with the
villages along the shore and on the islands. But there are
no European settlements in their territory.

The Province of Panama, with long coast lines on both
oceans, is the eastern extreme of the Republic. Most of it
is undeveloped. But there is considerable cattle-raising.
Several companies, with foreign capital, have been estab-
lished in the Bayano Valley. They are interested in
bananas, cocoanuts, vegetable ivory, rubber and cacao.
A lumber company, an English affair, is planning to exploit
the mahogany and cabinet woods. And down towards the
Colombian border, near the headwaters of the Tuyra River,
are the properties of the Darien Gold Mining Company.
The mines date from prehistoric times and there have been
very few long interruptions in the taking out of bullion.
At present the company is run under an English charter,

TEE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 73

but most of the stockholders and the technical managers
are French.

The Province of Panama contains the third of the great
natural harbors of the Isthmus. San Miguel Bay, with its
inner Darien Harbor, is a natural naval station without
rival. The entrance into Darien Harbor, from the immense
outer bay, is almost closed by a large island, on either side
of which are deep, safe channels, the Boca Chica and the
Boca Grande. Beyond them, is an unbroken expanse of
water, thirty miles long by half that width. All the navies
of all the nations could anchor here in safety. Half a dozen
submarine mines would make the place the surest refuge in
the world.

The big tides form a great advantage over the Chiriqui
Lagoon. They rise and fall fifteen feet — and at "spring
tide " twenty feet. The shores of the harbor are natural
dry-docks. Any ships which visit these coasts can be run
up on the beach on the top of the tide and left high and
dry when it falls. A further advantage is that the Tuyra
River is navigable beyond salt water. A short anchorage in
fresh water kills the barnacles, which are the pest of navi-
gation in these waters.

One cannot look at the Chiriqui Lagoon on the Carib-
bean, Montijo Bay and the Darien Harbor on the Pacific,
without regretting that the Republic of Panama is not a
great maritime nation, that these immensely valuable nat-
ural harbors should be unused.

Off the mouth of San Miguel Bay are the Pearl Islands.
The archipelago is over thirty miles long. There are six-
teen big islands and innumerable small ones. The Isla del
Rey is over ten miles long and as big as all the rest put to-
gether. Most of the islands which have fresh water are occu-
pied. There is a considerable output of cocoanuts and pine-
apples, but of course the pearl fisheries are the big industry.

74 PANAMA

Taking the Isthmus as a whole its most noticeable feature
is the maze of innumerable rivers. As a rule the mountains
are nearer the Atlantic than the Pacific; so most of the
longer rivers are on the southern slope. However, the Rio
Code" del Norte has its source in the province of Code", and
crosses that of Colon to empty into the Caribbean. The
Chagres River, which is to furnish the water for the Canal,
is also a northern stream. It is about 100 miles long and
navigable half that distance by small boats.

The largest of all the rivers is the Tuyra, or Rio del
Santa Maria, as the old maps have it. From its mouth in
Darien Harbor it is navigable for small steamers and
schooners, fifty miles inland. The cayukas, native dugouts,
go up it and its tributary, the Chucunaque, for fifty miles
more.

The climate of the Isthmus has a much worse name than
it deserves. It makes a very creditable showing indeed in
regard to temperature. There is no record of thermometer
ever having reached 100° in Panama City. There are many
cities in the States which cannot make such a boast.

Mr. Johnson, in his "Four Centuries of the Panama
Canal," has summarized the mass of Government observa-
tions as follows: "At Panama the hottest time of day is
from two to four P.M., when the average temperature ranges
from 81.6° Fahrenheit, in November, to 86.1° in March.
The coolest hour is from six to seven o'clock A.M., when the
average temperature ranges from 74°, in January, to 76.6°
in June. The general average of highest temperature is
84°, and the lowest 75.1°." There are very few places
within ten degrees of the equator with as mild a record.

But when it comes to "humidity" there is very little to
be said for the Isthmus. Even in what is called the "dry
season" the humidity runs up to an average close to 80°.
The average for the whole year is five degrees higher.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 75

Colon has an annual average rainfall of 140 inches and a
record of 180 inches. In Panama the annual rainfall is not
half as great — 60 inches. In Colon one must expect 196
rainy days, and in Panama 141, out of the 365. The dry
season runs from the middle of December to the middle of
April. The rainy season is the other eight months.

Outside of the Canal circles, where everyone talks of
"The Ditch," the principal subject of conversation is the
opportunity for foreigners to make money in Panama.
The attitude of the Panamanians is enigmatical. They all
speak with enthusiasm of the development of their country
by outside capital — in the abstract. But the moment a
proposition becomes concrete they freeze up. Any effort to
get official papers — such as deeds — registered meets with such
disheartening delays as to smack of positive hostility to
foreigners.

In the face of the unquestioned resources of the Isthmus,
there is remarkably little development.

There are three main obstacles in the way of foreign
enterprise :

(1) The uncertainty of land titles. There are a dozen
large estates which would be bought up and developed at
once if titles were clear, which are tied up in litigation.
Always some of the heirs are obstructing a settlement, in
the hope that the next turn-over in politics will put some
of their friends on the bench. There are almost no accurate
surveys and the records of the land office are a mess. In
Honduras an American once found a deed which recorded
the corner of the property as marked by "a dead mahogany
tree, with two ravens on the branch." Perhaps the Panama
records do not offer so crude an absurdity. But nine out
of ten of the myriad springs in the country are called
"Aguadulce." And many deeds give "a spring called
Aguadulce" as a boundary mark. Frequently the original

76 PANAMA

land grants read "from the sea back to the mountains."
When the hinterland had no value this was a satisfactory
description, but it is now a fruitful source of dispute. Very
few landholders know definitely how much they own.
During my last visit to Panama, an Englishman paid for
several thousand acres of timber land. When he took pos-
session, his surveyor could only find a few hundred acres.
Mistakes are sure to occur even when both sides are acting
in good faith, and the opportunities for fraud are limitless.
No one should go into a land transaction without the cer-
tainty of a bona-fide survey.

(2) The next obstacle to progress is the dearth of good
roads — the almost total lack of bridges. The country, for
instance, is full of valuable cabinet woods. A dozen con-
cerns have come to grief after acquiring good title to enough
standing mahogany to make a fortune. It is next to im-
possible to get the stuff out. The cost of transportation
is prohibitive. The same handicap burdens every under-
taking but weighs especially on any enterprise the product
of which is bulky or perishable. There are immense tracts
of valuable banana land lying fallow for want of transpor-
tation. It works both ways as it is just as difficult to get
machinery and provisions in as it is to get your commodity
out.

(3) The third obstacle — and the most serious of all for
a large undertaking — is the dearth of labor force. If the
enterprise requires steady labor, it must be imported. The
native population is small and long tradition has habit-
uated them to the simplest of simple lives. Nature is so
bountiful that a man can easily raise a family according to
accepted standards of living by two days work a week. It
is easy almost anywhere on the Isthmus to get fifty men to
work for you. But as soon as they have earned enough to
buy a year's supply of powder and shot, and half a dozen

TEE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 11

needles for the wife, it is all over. Five dollars a day would
not keep them on the job. They will have to be educated
up to a new and very much more complex system of
"wants," before they will become reliable workmen.

The banana fields of the United Fruit Company in Bocas
del Toro are the biggest foreign enterprise in the Repub-
lic. They have successfully overcome the last two ob-
stacles. Their fruit grows near water and they have built
a network of rails into the more remote fields. They con-
trol good harbors. So their transportation problem is
solved. And they import their labor from the West India
islands. But their land titles are in a bad tangle and it is
costing them many thousands of dollars to get them straight-
ened out.

The Darien Gold Mining Company is the oldest and the
most firmly established in the country. Their titles are
clear. They run a small steamer weekly from Panama to
Marriganti on the Tuyra River and they transport upriver
in "cayukas" and, during the rainy season, in a flat-
bottomed stern-wheeler to the head of navigation, from
which place they operate a miniature railroad to the mine
site. They also have to import most of their labor. Their
profits are seriously decreased by the high cost of transpor-
tation.

Another industry in which there is considerable capital — •
mostly local — is pearl fishing. It does not seem to be well
organized. But considering the slipshod methods it is very
profitable. The "mother of pearl" from the shells pays a
small interest on the capital and all the real pearls are clear
profit. There are twenty or thirty ships equipped with
diving apparatus, which operate at the islands and up and
down the coast. But the majority of the diving is done by
the natives of the Pearl Islands. They are enslaved to the
companies by debt and are viciously exploited. It seems

78 PANAMA

possible that a concern with sufficient capital to buy out
and consolidate the rival companies and organize the in-
dustry might make money.

Any large enterprise by outsiders demands sufficient
capital and patience to secure clear titles, efficient trans-
portation and a steady labor force.

This applies only to "big business." The Isthmus offers
opportunity to half a million settlers of the type of our
forefathers who pushed across the Appalachians and won
the West. One who wants to live close to nature will hunt
long before he finds a location where the Old Mother is
kindlier. The opportunities for small homes are limitless.
Much fertile land is unoccupied and can be taken up under
the homestead law. Dozens of profitable crops are prac-
tical— rice, onions, rubber, bananas, and other fruits.

In my opinion there is nothing more surely profitable than
cacao. The consumption of chocolate, both as a beverage
and in confections, is growing steadily. The market price is
rising regularly and is not subject to the speculative irregu-
larities which make coffee and rubber little better than
gambling. Unlike rubber, the cultivation is very simple.
It is a neglected crop, as is everything to-day which does
not promise speedy returns, because it takes eight or ten
years for the bush to reach maturity. But I have seen
trees eighty years old which were still bearing full capacity.

The natural history of the Isthmus has not yet been writ-
ten. The Smithsonian Institution is at present conducting
a "biological survey" of the Canal Zone. I have had the
pleasure of meeting several of the outfit, a specialist on
beetles, another on minute moths, a fish expert, a student
of mammals, an ornithologist and so forth. When their re-
ports are published we will know more about the flora and
fauna of the Isthmus than about any other part of the
world. But I found it impossible to find any reliable infor-

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 79

mation. The natives of Taboga Island will assure you that
every year the land crabs come down to the village in great
numbers to join the Good Friday procession. They prob-
ably come down from the hills to deposit their eggs near
the shore at that time of year. Most of the information
about birds and beasts and flowers which can be gained from
the natives is equally unreliable.

The data on flora and fauna given by the old chroniclers
is not much better. In " A letter, giving a description of
the Isthmus of Darien . . . from a gentleman who lives
there at present," which was printed in Edinburgh in 1599,
I find the following paragraphs:

5. "To write further of the trees, it would fill a good many sheets."

6. "There are also crocodiles. I could tell you a good true story
about one of them, but being too tedious I forbear."

7. "There is a great dale of Doggs, Deer, Rabbets, and Monkeys,
and many other sorts of Quadrupeds, which Ye have not the like of
in Europe." . . . "There is another small Bird here called Cabre-
ros, or Goat-Keepers; in these Birds are seven distinct Bladders of
Gall, and their Flesh is as bitter as Aloes: Of these we have abundance."

8. "There is a Root called by the Indians Cazove of which they
make a liquor called Vey-Cou much like unto Beer.

"Another fruit called Bananas, is an excellent Liquor, which in
strength and Pleasantness of tast, may be compared to the best Wines
of Spain. But this Liquor easily causes Drunkenness."

There are very few dangerous animals. There is a sort of
wild cat which the natives call lions, lots of alligators and
some snakes and scorpions, but I have never heard of a
trustworthy account, nor have I met anyone who has heard
such an account of any man having lost his life from any
of these animals.

There are lots of queer animals, tapirs, ant-eaters, the
giant lizard of Central America — the iguana. And there
are no end of gorgeous exotic birds, paroquets and humming
birds. Most beautiful of all are the snow-white aigrette

80 PANAMA

herons, of which one sees hundreds on the rivers of the
Darien.

Judging from my notebooks, I think I saw a new flower
every minute I spent in the interior. Very few of them
were familiar. Everywhere the jungle is full of orchids.
It is quite probable that a profitable business might be made
of shipping the more beautiful varieties to the home marketf

CHAPTER VI

THE PANAMANIANS

THERE is little real friendship between the Americans on
the Isthmus and the natives.

In temperament and tradition we are miles away from
the Panamanians. The hostility between Latin and Saxon
probably dates back to the old Roman days when the
Saxons first began to plunder the Latins.

When the Spanish Empire sprang up in America, its most
relentless enemies were the protestants of England. Even
in the odd moments when the two mother countries were
not at war, the colonists never buried the hatchet. From
the days of Drake till the fall of Carthagena, the Latin
people of Central America lived in constant fear of the
English buccaneers.

Since our revolution they have transferred this dread to
us. Gradually, but apparently relentlessly, the United
States have expanded — always at the cost of Spanish Amer-
ica. Florida, Texas and California, the Philippines, Porto
Rico, one after the other, have disappeared down the maw
of what out southern neighbors are wont to call "The
Northern Vulture."

Very many of our representatives in the Canal Zone
have made sincere efforts to establish friendly relations
with the native population. A few still continue such
efforts, but most have given it up as hopeless. The two
people live side by side, meet occasionally at the theatre
or public receptions, but very rarely become intimate.

81

82 PANAMA

Perhaps half a dozen American men have married Pana-
manian wives. I have not heard of a single American
woman marrying a native.

The age-old hostility to the " Gringo" is deep-rooted.
Differences in language, customs and religious practices
keep the breach wide.

So any description of the people is necessarily that of an
outsider. Very likely many of the things which seem
ludicrous or unlovely to us might be understood and over-
looked if they would admit us to greater intimacy.

Panamanian society is sharply divided in classes. The
people on top are either old Spanish families, whose income
is dependent on land, or well-established families of foreign
extraction who have been naturalized for many years and
whose source of income is industrial. The descendants of
the Conquistadores look down on these parvenu families in
private, but are so generally in debt to them that they dare
not do so in public. They form a pretty solid social block.

The division in regard to politics is sharper than that of
heredity. At present the Liberal party is in power and the
Conservatives are getting social as well as political snubs.
One of the most noticeable things about these people is their
inability to bury political differences. Theirs is a politic
of personalities, first, last and all the time. The Conserv-
ative members of "The Union Club" are resigning —
although the club was formed as a place where the two
sides could meet socially — because they feel that they have
not been fairly treated in committee appointments. As a
general proposition, Conservatives and Liberals will not
break any manner of bread together. During the elections
for the Queen of the Carnivals, all good Liberals vote for
the daughter of a Liberal.

This political bitterness, which shows itself so unpleas-
antly in social life, goes to even worse extremes in the

THE PANAMANIANS 83

business of politics. Every political turn-over means an
entire house cleaning. Every government official, from
judge to street cleaner, loses his job — to make way for a
member of the triumphant party. The Liberal party, now
in power, has developed the "machine patronage system"
to ludicrous lengths. They seem bent on creating a job
for every one of a safe majority of voters. Panama City
has enough policemen for a city ten times its size. Consu-
lates have been sprinkled all over the map — often in places
that never saw a Panamanian till the consul arrived.

There is absolute unanimity on the question that what
the Republic needs before and above everything else are
roads. With its long coast lines and many navigable rivers,
it is unusually adapted to the cheapest of all forms of trans-
portation— by water. Small amounts of money spent in
harbor works in half a dozen places, a few good roads lead-
ing inland from the harbors, would open up large districts.
Yet the 1910 National Assembly voted to tie up all the re-
serve capital of the nation in a railroad of doubtful utility.
Railroading is always expensive transportation; in tropical
countries it is especially so.

The little Republic of Panama made its bow to the world
in the enviable position of having several dollars per capita
in the bank, when most of its older sisters were heavily in
debt. Much of this reserve has been squandered in riotous
building of national theatres and national universities or in
more riotous pay rolls. Very little of it has gone in real
development of the country.

What is not plain graft is grandiose. They are building
elaborate buildings for a National Institute to which they
tell you quite seriously all the youth of Central America, if
not Europe and Asia, will flock. It is admittedly too big
for the needs of the Republic. That it takes generations
for a university to acquire sufficient fame to attract foreign-

84 PANAMA

ers seems not to have suggested itself to them. That they
may have trouble in collecting a really erudite faculty has
also been ignored. The project is on a par with their
National Theatre. It is an imposing building which would
do credit to a metropolis. It is not lighted fifty nights in
a year. During my second visit to Panama (a three months
stay) it was only opened once — for an amateur performance
arranged by American ladies for the benefit of the Red
Cross. But it is possible that Bernhardt may visit the
Isthmus again. It is necessary to have a suitable theatre
for her. It is possible that one of the youngsters who is
getting a very poor sort of an education in the present
schools may develop into an Abelard, and forsooth it is
necessary to build his Sorbonne in advance — especially
when the contract for construction is profitable.

A further consideration is undoubtedly in the minds of
the "liberal" statesmen. They cannot hope to keep in
power forever, so what is the use of leaving anything for the
hated Conservatives to get away with?

My view of Isthmanian politics may be flippant, but if
so, the blame is due to several of her prominent citizens
who, when I went to them with hope of getting at the real
matter of principle involved in their politics, gave me noth-
ing but cheap invective. If there is really any difference
in principle between the parties, it is not to be found in the
" press" of the country.

Below this class, composed of landed gentry politicians
and financial industrial politicians, lies the great mass of
the people, who take no more part in government affairs
than they do in government receptions. One sees them at
their worst in the cities, as is true in every country. The
Sanitary Department has cleaned up the slums, and the
housing conditions are better than in many more prosperous
communities.

TEE PANAMANIANS 85

In the country they lead a sort of Arcadian life. There
is much free land, and those who have not acquired any
property "squat'7 wherever the fancy strikes them.

Of course, the base of the population is Indian — a squat,
square-faced type, completely unlike the illustrations in the
de luxe editions of Hiawatha. There are two main ethnic
groups of Indians. The Cholos, a fairly pure type is found
in the mountains of Code" province, are scattered all up
and down the west coast, from the borders of Mexico to
the edge of Peru. The early Spanish adventurers found
that friendly Indians from the Isthmus could act as inter-
preters within these limits.

In the northeastern part of the country, beginning at
the Gulf of San Bias and extending almost to the Colom-
bian border, and inland to the Chucunaque River, are the
San Bias. Probably of the same race as the Cholos, they
have become differentiated in the four centuries since the
visit of Columbus, in that they have never been conquered
and have not allowed intermarriage. They boast that "no
San Bias woman has borne a half-breed, that no San Bias
man has fathered a mongrel." They are estimated at
about 20,000, and are reputed to be well armed. As the
Republic has no army, they have every prospect of main-
taining their independence for a long time to come.

They are not unfriendly to white men, and treasure an
especial respect for tlie English, who, tradition tells them,
are irreconcilable enemies of their enemies, the Spaniards.
The San Bias men frequently come up to Colon and Pan-
ama with cayukas laden with cocoanuts and scrap rubber
which they trade for powder and salt and needles and
cloth. They allow traders along their coast, but never
permit them to stay on shore during the night. They
guard their women to such an extent that a white man
rarely sees one of them except through glasses. The mo-

86 PANAMA

ment a stranger approaches a village, the women disappear
into the bush.

The San Bias men who come up to town — like the Cho-
los — speak Spanish, but whether or not they have forgotten
their own language I could not make sure. A trader from
Yavisa on the Chucunaque told me that Spanish was their
only language. Some Altantic coast traders maintained
the opposite, that only a few of the men learned Spanish,
and that their native language was still used.

The Cholo Indians have not preserved their ethnic purity
and seem to have no sentiment in the matter. Most of the
crossing has been with negroes, the slaves of colonial days,
their descendants, and the recent immigrants from the
West Indies. But the crossing of the races has been varied
in the extreme. At El Real on the Tuyra River, a pure type
of Cholo girl was married to the leading Chinese merchant,
and had two almond-eyed and yellow-skinned youngsters.
It is generally affirmed that aside from the San Bias people,
no native of Panama is of pure blood. The color line is not
drawn very sharply in the official and social circles of the
cities, so of course it is not on the country side.

Family life is simple in the extreme. John and Jennie,
or more probably Jose" and Dolores, walk off some fine day.
If they happen to pass a priest, they may stop and get
married. When they find a satisfactory place, it does not
take them many days to get settled. They have probably
started out with a couple of machetes, an earthen pot and
a hammock. They build a roof and hoist it up on four
poles. They begin cutting out a clearing, and at the end
of the dry season, burn off the fallen timber. Until their
first crop comes to harvest, they borrow rice and yams and
plantains from their relatives if there does not happen to
be a stranger more near at hand. In the course of a few
years they have as many children, their original shelter has

THE PANAMANIANS 87

been turned into a kitchen, and a new rancho with woven
walls has become their residence. They have several acres
under mild cultivation. The bananas and oranges have
begun to bear. Dolores has woven several new hammocks,
has moulded several new pots and pans, and has made a
dozen different household utensils out of the fruit of their
thriving calabash tree. They have become people of con-
sideration, and are now in a position to lend yams and rice
to more recently established homes.

Once a year or so, Jose* sets out for the nearest town.
He loads up with various medicinal gums they have gath-
ered, a few pounds of rubber scrap, and, if Dolores is a
clever artisan at hat weaving or gourd carving, with her
handiwork. On the way he stops at every hacienda he
passes and asks for work. In due course he reaches town
with a handful of silver, buys what supplies he needs and
returns to Dolores for another long sleep. As soon as the
oldest boy grows up, he sends him to town instead, and
sleeps all the year round.

In all my trips into the interior, I never found a native
white man who was truly hospitable, and never found an
Indian who was not. However, I would not care to gener-
alize from my experience.

The formal tribal relations have broken down among the
Cholo Indians. They appear to be, according to Herbert
Spencer's ideal, the happiest of people, for they are cer-
tainly the least governed. Half a dozen whom I questioned
did not know who was president of the Republic. There
seems to be in each community some old man who is gen-
erally considered wise. Disputes are informally submitted
to him, but he has no authority to back up his deci-
sions.

The jungle stretches on all sides invitingly. Very few
of the Indians have acquired sufficient property to bind

88 PANAMA

them to a locality or community; and if a man felt he was
unjustly treated by his neighbors, he would move.

The landed gentry generally live in the cities. Their
haciendas are unattractive places, the cultivation of their
estates is almost nil. In general, their income comes from
cattle raising or those forms of agriculture which require the
least human labor. There is none of the slavery of which
one hears so much in Mexico, partly because the Pana-
manian gentry are too indolent to make effective slave driv-
ers, but more because the jungle offers such ready escape.

Almost every time you find an even moderately well-
cultivated estate, you will find a foreigner as foreman.

The homes of the rich are strangely unattractive to
Northerners, and this is especially remarkable, as most of
the upper class have been educated abroad.

I spent nearly a week in a household not far from Pan-
ama City. They were the most important people of. the
village, and reputed to be rich. They were so nearly white
that the daughters had been received in a smart finishing
school in the States. Several members of the family had
been in Europe. One would naturally expect certain traces
of advanced culture.

It was a large one-storied house, with unglazed windows.
One room, which served as a dining and living room, was
papered with a cheap, gaudy, green and gilt paper, stained
and moldy from humidity. The walls of the other rooms
were bare. In this living room there was a grand piano
which had been out of tune at least a generation, and had
been superseded by a graphophone. Sousa marches were
the family's preference in music. On the wall there was a
chromo portrait of Alphonso XIII, advertising a brand of
sherry, and a hideous crayon enlargement from a photograph
of the father. In a book-shelf there was a fine old set of
Cervantes, a couple of French and English dictionaries and

THE PANAMANIANS 89

text books, and a file of La Hacienda, an illustrated maga-
zine published by and in the interests of an American manu-
facturer of farm machinery. I did not see any member of
the family reading anything but the daily paper from
Panama, although they could all read and speak French
and English.

The ladies of the household spent the morning in dingy
mother hubbards and slippers. After a heavy midday meal
they retired to their hammocks. About four o'clock they
took a dip in the ocean, sat around the rest of the evening
with a towel over their shoulders and their hair drying.

About a month later I encountered one of these young
ladies at a ball in Panama. She was dressed in an exqui-
site Paris gown, and was strikingly beautiful. She would
have passed muster in the most exclusive set in any Euro-
pean capital. It was hard to believe that 360 days out of
the year she led the slipshod, slovenly life I had seen in her
home.

The married life of the better class natives does not seem
attractive to Americans. The women have no social inter-
course with men, except at infrequent balls and formal
dinners. They are expected to keep their feet on the rocker
of the cradle all the time. The men lead their social life in
cafes and clubs. "Calling" is unknown. Many amusing
stories are told of the excitement and astonishment caused
by Americans breaking over this custom. There were a
great many love feasts in the early days. Everyone talked
of friendship between the two nations, and the Americans
believed in it. And our young men, having duly met the
ladies of Panama at these formal functions, proceeded to
"call" in form. Invariably they found the ladies in "des-
habille" and tongue-tied with astonishment at the invasion.
The husbands were outraged at this attack on the sanctity
of their homes, and while the affair fell short of a diplomatic

90 PANAMA

incident, a lot of explaining had to be done to avoid the duels
which threatened.

Considering that several thousands of American bachelors
have worked in the Canal Zone, it is remarkable that so few
have married Panamanian women.

The religion of the country is Roman Catholic. Most of
the men, however, seem to be free thinkers. Even more
than in Protestant countries, the congregations at the
churches are made up of women. But especially at fiestas
the churches are packed. The ceremonial in these Latin-
American countries is not as attractive as it is in Europe
nor as impressive as it is in Russia. The religious fervor
which marked the clergy in the early days of colonization —
the missionary spirit — seems to have very largely given place
to formalism, and rather shoddy formalism at that. Even
the linen on the high altar of the Cathedral is not spotless.
The silken finery of Nuestra Senora del la Merced is moth-
eaten. The worshippers seem uninspired, the celebrants of
the mass half asleep. There seems to be no singing to speak
of. Only once I heard some sisters — and it was a sadly un-
trained chorus — chanting a mass in San Felipe Neri.

The old journal of an Englishman who was held some
months captive by the Indians, before their conversion, tells
of how they used to put bunches of flowers and piles of
bones at the dark places along the trails — places where evil
spirits were supposed to congregate. If you ride back into
the interior to-day, in all such fearsome places you will see
bunches of flowers — and rude crosses. In every "rancho"
you will find a sacred corner presided over by a wooden
cross, and sometimes a holy picture. The Indian women
like to put broken pieces of looking glass about these shrines.
But beyond this it is hard to find any signs of Christianity
among the natives.

"Sport," in the Anglo-Saxon sense, is hardly known in

THE PANAMANIANS 91

Panama. The nearest approach to baseball, for instance,
is cock-fighting. It holds a place in the hearts of the peo-
ple on a par with, if not above, political intrigue. There are
cock fights every Sunday, and elections only once a year.

The birds are raised with great care, and are trained
and fed with as much solicitude as a prize fighter. Sunday
morning, while the women are at church, the men crowd
into the cock-pit. The excitement is intense, the tobacco
smoke dense — and the sport pitiful. Two cocks, most of
their feathers shaved off, are brought into the ring by their
keepers. There is a long wrangle over odds, and then bets
are tossed in from the circle of seats. When the debate
between the keepers is ended, they knock the roosters'
heads together and then turn them loose. I sat through a
couple of hours of it once, and only one bout of a dozen or
more had any action to it — or any suspense. In the other
cases, after a little sparring, one cock ran and the other
chased it, round and round the pit. Every few minutes
the backer of the fleeing cock would persuade it to turn
round and face the foe, but in a second the chase would
begin again. The bout was ended when one cock was
smitten with heart failure. Perhaps the worst thing which
can be said of the Panamanians is that cock fighting is their
national sport.

The hostility to the Gringos is industriously fostered by
the merchants of the Republic, few of whom are native-
born Panamanians.

The situation furnishes a very interesting study of how
far political passion can blind people to their economic
interests.

The Isthmian Canal Commission has developed a com-
missary department for the benefit of the employees. It
is an immense cooperative store where great economies are
effective, and the prices for almost any article are appre-

92 PANAMA

ciably lower in the commissaries than in the private stores
of Panama and Colon. The merchants of the Republic
have organized a bitter opposition to this system, and by
their influence on the government have effected, through
diplomatic channels, an agreement by which the privilege
of trading at the commissaries is strictly limited. No one
who is not a canal employee or a member of the diplomatic
corps can enjoy the benefit of cheap buying without a special
permit from the President of the Republic.

Ice is almost a necessity of life in the tropics. A private
monopoly in Panama City manufactures it and sells it at
exorbitant prices. The Commissary has a fine modern
plant and furnishes ice to canal employees at cost. A few
families reap immense profit from the ice monopoly. All
the natives pay exorbitant prices for it. If the National
Assembly should pass a resolution instructing the President
to request the Commission to extend its commissary privi-
leges to the people of Panama, nine-tenths of the population
would benefit immensely, and only half a dozen already rich
families would suffer. It pays these families to stir up
patriotism to the extent that the natives prefer to go without
ice rather than touch that of the Gringos.

An even more striking case is furnished by the situation
in regard to electric power and light. The same clique who
own the ice monopoly have an antiquated electric plant,
operated by coal brought all the way from the States.
The unit cost is ludicrously high, and the monopolistic profit
is extortionate. A few miles out of Panama, the Commission
is installing a large electrical power plant to operate the
Locks. They must make it large enough to handle the
maximum of traffic, and there is no possibility of the maxi-
mum being reached for years to come. It would certainly
pay our Government to furnish light and power to Panama
at less than cost.

THE PANAMANIANS 93

A small clique, probably not one hundred people, includ-
ing relatives, is succeeding in blinding the entire city to
these easy economies, by its ardent anti-Gringo patriotism.

I am sorry to have a so unfavorable impression of these
people. Their virtues they carefully hide from the for-
eigner. Their statesmen may have real interest in the
welfare of their country, but they will talk to you only
about their political animosities. Their women, on close
acquaintance, may be lovable in the extreme. The Amer-
ican rarely sees them, except in frowsy attire on the bal-
conies of their unattractive homes.

It is hard to like people who have evidently made up
their mind to dislike you.

CHAPTER VII

"THE DARIEN" is a vague term for the eastern end of the
Isthmus. There is a Gulf of Darien on the Atlantic side,
and a Darien Harbor on the Pacific. The old maps give
the same name interchangeably for the two rivers now
called the Atrato and the Tuyra. It is a territory about
which very little is known. Part of it — nobody knows ex-
actly how much — is occupied by the San Bias Indians

Once a month, on the spring tide, the National Naviga-
tion Company of Panama send one of their boats to "The
Darien." It is a five-day cruise, and the most interesting
side trip which a visitor to the Isthmus can make.

I went down towards the end of the dry season, on the
steamer Veraguas. It was late afternoon when we left the
busy harbor of Panama. The lowering sun set the mother-
of-pearl on the Cathedral towers afire, shone a blazing red
on the many windows of the Tivoli Hotel and the American
town on Ancon Hill. We passed close inshore by the site
of Old Panama, the ruined tower of St. Anastasius outlined
above the jungle against the sunset, and then out across the
bay, towards Brava Point. The water, as smooth as a
ballroom floor, was blue past description, except where it
caught some of the red of the western sky.

After an amazingly good supper for so small a craft, the
captain spun yarns for us up on the bridge. He had good
ones to spin. He had started out on the service of the
Royal Mail, after long years of waiting had received a ship,
and on the second run had gone ashore on an uncharted

94

" TEE DAEIEN " 95

bar off the coast of Africa. He had been completely exon-
erated by the board of inquiry. But little good that does a
captain. The iron law of the sea says that once a skipper
has put his ship ashore, he is a broken man. A dozen
investigating committees may report him blameless, may
praise his bravery and cool-headed ability — he is black-
listed at Lloyds. No company which insures its ships can
afford to employ him. So our captain had been forced out
of the beaten paths, into the by-ways of the sea. During
the Russo-Japanese War, he had enlisted in the Mikado's
service. After peace had been re-established, he had drifted
about from one tramp steamer to another, at last to get
command of the minute Veraguas.

So slipping along through the motionless sea, our mast
barely missing the immense and imminent disk of the
moon, we sat half the night, listening to bizarre tales of the
China Sea, the Blockade of Vladivostok, pearl smuggling,
Boxer pirates and Dyak head-hunters. Even Robert, the
Well-Beloved, failed to get from his magic pen an adequate
picture of the glamor and romance of night on the Southern
Sea — so what's the use?

I woke up to find that we were rounding Brava Point in
the Gulf of San Miguel. The expanse of water about us
was the first of the Pacific Ocean seen by European eyes
from America. On one of those mountains — in the long chain
which formed the horizon on the left — Balboa, near four
centuries ago, accomplished fame, when

. . . . with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific — and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise —
Silent, upon a peak in Darien."

Somewhere along that white sandy beach on St. Michael's
Day (September 29), 1513, he strode into the water to his
waist and flaunted abroad the banner of Castile and Leon.

96 PANAMA

Time has rotted away the wooden cross they erected, to
the wonder of the Indians. The tooth of Time has bitten
deep into the sovereignty of the royal house of Spain —
which was growing so mightily in those days. Only the
name — "Golfo de San Miguel" — which he gave the place
has remained. Also in memory of his great discovery, the
name of Balboa has been given to the busy port thirty miles
up the coast, the terminus of the great canal which is to be —
a place where they built ships which would as much have
amazed Balboa as his musquettes did the Indians.

Somewhere across this placid bay, Balboa ventured forth
in a native canoe — most probably the Indian cayukas of
to-day are no bigger than those the first Spaniards found.
Galvano, an old chronicler, writes : " He embarked himself
against the will of Chiapes, who was lord of the coast, who
wished him not to do so, because it was dangerous for him.
But he, desirous to have it known that he had been upon
these seas, went forward, and came back again in safety
and with great content, bringing with him good store of
gold, silver, and pearls."

The view is beautiful and I also returned " with great
content/' although not with so rich spoils.

Within the Gulf of San Miguel, the water loses its glori-
ous blueness. Three mighty rivers, running through allu-
vial valleys, have turned it into a Missouri brown.

From Brava Point it is fifteen miles across the mouth of
the Gulf. Inside it broadens out to twice that width. The
shores are irregular and there are several islands. The
channel up the Gulf is twenty miles long. The banks are
generally precipitous, getting higher as one gets inland.
There are few signs of human habitation. Here and there
a break in the dense foliage of the hillsides showed where
some natives had made a clearing. We passed close to one
island, but we saw no Indians.

•« THE DARIEN " 97

Beyond the Gulf is the great Darien Harbor. A large
island, blocking the entrance, separates the two channels,
the Boca Chica from the Boca Grande. When our battle-
ships visited the harbor, on their trip around the world,
they used the Boco Grande. This channel is not only the
deeper, but also the longer. The native boats all use the
Boco Chico. The banks at the head of the Gulf are hidden
by mangrove swamps. The entrance to this narrow pas-
sage is invisible to uninitiated eyes. When our captain
threw the head of the boat around, I thought he had a
brain-storm and was running us aground. A few yards
from the shore, the opening suddenly appears. The channel
is about three hundred feet wide and not a quarter of a mile
long. Once headed into it, we shot through on the tide at
incredible speed.

Before I realized that we had entered the passage, we
were slowing down in the placid water of the harbor.

The spring tide rises nearly twenty feet. Darien Harbor
is thirty miles long, and averages ten in width. A tremen-
dous amount of water — considerably more than a cubic mile
of it — has to rush through those two narrow mouths every
six hours. I doubt if the famous tides of the Bay of Fundy
run any stronger.

William Dampier, who, besides being a pirate of parts,
was a keen observer of geography, has left this account of the
place as he found it two centuries ago:

"The Gulf of St. Michael ... is a place, where
many great rivers having finished their course, are swal-
lowed up in the sea. ... On either side the Gulf
runs in towards the land somewhat narrower, and makes
five or six small islands, and good channels between the
islands; beyond which, further in still, the shore on each
side closes so near with two points of low mangrove land as
to make a narrow or strait, scarce half a mile wide. This

98 PANAMA

serves as a mouth or entrance to the inner part of the
Gulf, which is a deep bay, two or three leagues on every way;
and about the east end thereof are the mouths of several
rivers, the chief of which is that of Santa Maria; this is
the way that the privateers have generally taken as the
nearest between the North and South Seas. The river of
Santa Maria is the largest of all the rivers of this gulf; it is
navigable eight or nine leagues up, for so high the tide
flows. Beyond that place the river is divided into many
branches, and is only fit for canoes; the tide rises and falls
in this river about eighteen feet."

Around a corner of headland, just after entering the
harbor, our boat stopped at the picturesque little town of
La Palma. It is built on a very steep hillside. The houses
on the water front are perched on twenty-foot piles — almost
awash when the tide is in and high, and dry when it falls.

I counted about two hundred roofs, of which ten or fif-
teen were of corrugated iron — a sign and criterion of prog-
ress. El Real de Santa Maria, a town which we visited later,
has less than half of its roofs of the old-fashioned thatch.
The Alcalde boasted to me about it. I suppose corrugated
iron roofs are a sign of progress in Panama, just as tunnels
are in New York, but I prefer thatch and ferries.

In La Palma happened to me an amazing adventure.
I cheated a native! In any place of Spanish civilization,
this is something to boast of. It works the other way
around with such sickening regularity.

My friend and I went ashore in one of the native cayukas
— a ride of not more than two minutes. When we stepped
ashore the boatman calmly demanded one peso apiece. As
a general rule, I think that in a strange country, where you
do not know the language very well, it is wise to allow your-
self to be robbed without making an uproar. Otherwise
you lose your breath as well as your money. But there are

" THE DAEIEN " 99

limits, and this seemed to be one of them. So individually
and collectively, we yelled all the mean things we knew in
Spanish at that cayuka man. He disappeared on a run.

"Gone for the Alcalde and the police," my friend re-
marked.

"Well, let's get a look at the town before they lock us
up," I said.

We strolled around for half an hour, expecting trouble
every minute. When there was no more to be seen, we
went down to the shore, and another cayuka man offered
to take us both out for four reals. So back we went to the
boat, without having paid any fare for the ride ashore.

'I think the first boatman must have had a stroke. We
expected to see him waiting for us with a warrant when we
put in at La Palnia on the return trip. For a month after-
wards I expected to have him turn up in Panama. But I
never saw him again. He is the only Panamanian who ever
let me get by him without paying.

The cruise up the harbor was delightful. The hills come
down sheer to the water's edge, their sides thick with heavy
timber. Three different species of lignum vitce — each with
its own color — were in bloom. Blossoming hybiscus, like
Fourth of July red-fire, was everywhere. And most gor-
geous of all were the Royal Poincianas or Peacock flowers.
A few islands, also bright with blossoms, broke the expanse
of water in just those places which would have been chosen
by a Japanese landscape gardener.

Perched on one promontory is the large country place of
a Panama merchant. It looks desolately alone. The shores
of such a body of water in a less torrid clime would be
crowded with summer houses.

A few hours beyond La Palma, we passed the mouth of
the Rio Las Savanahs. It looks as broad as the Mississippi
and very much more sluggish. The entrance to the river is

100 PANAMA

almost choked with water lilies, only a narrow channel is
left free. For a mile on either side of it, the green pads of
the leaves — which are not very large, but innumerable —
entirely hide the water. There were thousands and thou-
sands of small white and golden blossoms. The air was
heavy with their fragrance.

Beyond this river the harbor begins to narrow rapidly.
About four in the afternoon, we anchored for half an hour
off the little village of Chepigana. Of its fifty houses only
the barn-like trading station had a corrugated iron roof.
This little place and La Palma are the only towns on all the
coast of this great bay.

Twilight was just beginning when we reached the head of
the harbor and the mouth of the Tuyra River — in Dampier's
day the Spaniards called it the Rio del Santa Maria del
Darien. We steamed up it as far as we could before night-
fall.

Here we began to meet cayukas loaded with Cholo In-
dians. They are of the same squat, square-faced breed as
those to be seen in the western provinces. But they seem
much less touched by civilization. The men seldom wore
more than a breech-cloth. The prevailing mode among the
women was a short skirt, hardly more than a fringe. In
fact, the children, who wore nothing at all, wore very little
less than their elders.

Our boat followed a tortuous course, now close to one
shore, now to the other. And ever as we proceeded, we
were disturbing the innumerable birds who were set-
tling down for the night. The aigrette herons were a sight
worth all the long journey. There were hundreds of them,
and they are the whitest things which live. None of the
other animals which we call "white" — polar bears, white
elephants, silver foxes — are really white. But these herons
are as dazzlingly white as the crest of Mont Blanc at noon.

Photo f>y 1'ishbaitgh.

THE FLAT ARCH OF THE CHURCH OF ST. DOMINIC.

Photo by Fishbauzh.

THE CATHEDRAL OF PANAMA.

" THE DAEIEN " 101

In zoological gardens, herons and flamingoes and all that
genera of birds seem awkward and unlovely. They need
their native setting. These tropical rivers are their real
home. As our steamer fumed up the river, it disturbed them
mightily. As far as I could see ahead of us, was a string of
them on either side, flying sleepily up stream to escape us.
There is an unspeakable beauty in the moth-like way they
flap their ghostly wings, outlined so strikingly against the
dead green of the river banks. When it became too dark
for navigation, we dropped anchor and let them sleep.

It was too hot to sleep in the cabin, so we swung our
hammocks on deck. I find going to sleep in a hammock
an easy habit to acquire. But how to wake up with any
degree of grace or dignity is an art which requires long
practice.

I have a vague recollection of opening one eye and realiz-
ing with profound satisfaction that there was yet at least
an hour before dawn. The next thing I knew was a fusillade
from the after deck. It was not just one shot — it sounded
like platoon firing. I woke with a start and tried to jump
out of bed, but I was in a hammock, and could not. There
was nothing to set foot on. I kicked out wildly, expecting
to strike the floor. I only barked my shins on a stanchion.
At this stage of the affair, a field gun came to the support
of the rifle brigade, and the string which held up the mos-
quito netting broke and I tumbled four feet onto the deck.
It was probably fifteen minutes before I got myself untan-
gled and reached the after deck.

Every man on board with a firearm was pumping lead
into the mud flats left bare by the receding tide. Rifles,
revolvers, automatic pistols! The captain had an English
elephant gun, which I had mistaken for a field-piece. I
followed the line of his aim, and could see nothing until
he fired — then a great red chasm opened in the mud. It

102 PANAMA

was the mouth of an alligator. I have never seen anyj
thing in nature which has carried "protective imitation"
as far as these saurians. Half a dozen men were standing
about me, shooting right and left, and I could see nothing
but mud. It was several minutes before my eyes caught the
trick of seeing them. Then I ran for my gun and joined in
the slaughter.

From the ordinary point of view there is no sport in shoot-
ing alligators. They lie quiet — a too easy mark — and unless
the bullet penetrates the brain, it is impossible to get them.
They waddle down to the water and slip in. A day or two
later their dead bodies come up somewhere down stream.

There is, however, a great temptation to find out whether
it really is an alligator or just a hunk of mud on the bank
or a dead log floating down stream. The only way to make
sure is to shoot. It is a good betting game, for even the
Indians will sometimes be fooled.

As soon as the tide began to come in, we lifted anchor
and continued up stream. There is a never flagging fas-
cination to river navigation. At sea, if it is rough, it is
uncomfortable, and if it is smooth, it is monotonous. Here
every turn brought a new vista. Sometimes the jungle
trees scraped the upper works of the boat. There was al-
ways the chance of seeing a monkey or a paroquet or a
cayuka full of Indians.

About noon we dropped anchor in the channel off El
Real del Santa Maria. It was in this progressive little
town that the Alcalde proudly pointed out the two score
corrugated iron roofs. There was also a two-story munici-
pal building to boast of and a new billiard table.

Here we unloaded three Chinamen who were going on a
trading expedition up the Chucunaque River, which joins
the Tuyra just below El Real. They caused great excite-
ment, for, in trying to keep down their expenses, they put

" THE DARIEN " 103

all their worldly goods into one cayuka. I think another
half pound would have sent it to the bottom. Once they
had cast off from the Veraguas and saw how precarious was
their position, the three of them began to chant their funeral
dirge. All the good people of El Real, attracted by the un-
earthly noise, rushed out to the river bank. One of the
passengers bet me a peso that they would sink. It did
not look like a good bet to me, but I had stuck him every
time on the alligator game, so took him on. By the very
narrowest margin, the Celestials reached the shore in
safety. When the passenger paid me the peso, he wanted
to bet me that he would die inside of a year.

"You've got such a luck, you can't lose," he said. "I'd
feel better than if my life was insured."

Two twists of the river, above El Real, we ran into a mud
bank. There was nothing to do but twirl our thumbs for
six hours till a new tide lifted us off.

The geological formation of this district is very inter-
esting. In some prehistoric time, it was a country of high
mountains and deep, precipitous valleys. Then in some
great convulsion, it all sank so that the original bed of the
valleys was several hundred feet below sea level. The
rivers have washed down an alluvial deposit and filled up
the old valleys.

Fifty miles up, the Tuyra is still at sea level. Marri-
ganti, the head of navigation, has a tide of eight or ten feet.
On either side of the river are broad mud flats, heavily
overgrown with jungle. The surface is not five feet above
high tide in the dry season, and it is continually drowned
in the wet. If some system of Holland dykes could be in-
stalled and these bottomlands kept dry, they would be
immensely fertile.

While we were stuck on that mud bank, fighting mosqui-
toes, an incident illustrative of the all-pervasiveness of

104 PANAMA

progress occurred. One of the deck-hands, who looked like
an Italian, was enlivening his job of stitching a patch on a
pair of overalls, by singing the Duke's song from "Rigo-
letto." And he sang it well. He had a rich baritone. His
voice had evidently not been trained, but he sang true.
Sitting there on a dry-goods case, beating time against it
with his bare heels, he threw into his singing a large measure
of the nonchalance, the very spirit of the song, which so
often is lacking in the performance of professionals.

"Now, listen to that," the captain said. "That's the
real Latin for you. Music born in him. I don't suppose
he can read or write. But once when he was a little shaver,
back in Italy, his father took him to the opera in Naples,
and he heard some great artist sing that. And he remem-
bers it still. Sings it down here in the jungle, without any
accompaniment but his heels, a lot better than an English
or American university man could sing it with an orches-
tra."

"Let's get him to tell us about it," I suggested.

The captain called him up and asked him where he was
born.

"New York," he said.

"Mulberry Street?" I asked.

"Sure."

"Where did you learn that song?"

"Oh! That? That's a Caruso song. I learned it out of
a phonograph."

"If I hear you singing that again, I'll kick you over-
board!" the captain said, in disgust. But I was so delighted
at the skipper's discomfort that I gave the boy the peso I
had won on the Chinamen.

Marriganti, where we arrived a couple of hours after the
tide lifted us over the bar, is the station of the Darien Gold
Mining Company. Our cargo was principally machinery

" THE DABIEN " 105

for their new plant. It was to be taken up stream in small
boats and then, by miniature railroad, to the mine site.

We also had a large consignment of goods for up-river
traders, cases of nails, boxes of starch and sugar, bags of
coffee and salt, bolts of cloth. Every civilized country in
the world was represented in that merchandise. Some of the
people up river are Germans, for we unloaded several cases
of Augustiner Brau from Munich.

Here at Marriganti we met the first white man since leav-
ing Panama. He was an Italian, in charge of the mining
company's station. We had letters of introduction to him,
and he started in to perform the rites of hospitality by mix-
ing what he called a " Nitroglycerine cocktail." He said it
was so strong that if you dropped a cigarette ash into it, it
would blow the roof off. When he found out that we did
not care to get drunk with him, he lost all interest in us,
and went surlily about the business of unloading his consign-
ment of machinery. I once met a Belgian judge from the
Congo Free State, who said the only objection he had to his
post was that there was no opportunity to get drunk with a
white man. This Italian of Marriganti is in the same fix.
For the population of El Real and La Palma seems to be
pure Nubian. They are descendants of the colonial slaves.
A few West Indian negroes have drifted into the district.
They are mostly men who were stranded on the Isthmus
when the French canal company failed. They are indis-
tinguishable from the natives — except when they startle
you by speaking English.

The trip down stream was uneventful. At La Palma
we picked up a cargo of lumber and the Bishop of Panama
and his retinue. He was a picturesque type in his frayed
and faded purple. His face was round and wrinkled and
amiable. In his youth he had been a scholar and had trav-
elled widely. He seemed pleased to talk to a foreigner.

106 PANAMA

He was curious to know if the "modernism" heresy was
making headway in America. I asked him if it was troub-
ling Panama, and he said: "Alas, no! My clergy are too
ignorant. They have not heard of it." But his English
was decidedly rusty, and I think he got his "Alas" in the
wrong place.

We slipped through the Boca Chica with the last of the
tide and the last of the sun. All the way down the Gulf
of San Miguel, we had to fight for every inch against the
rush of the flow.

As soon as night fell, we were treated to a gorgeous dis-
play of phosphorescence. It is a different species of ani-
malcule which sets the sea ablaze in these waters from
what one sees at Nassau and Bermuda. Instead of sparkles
in the water, there is an undifferentiated glow. Their light
is a soft electric blue, like what one sees when the sun shines
through a mass of ice.

The minute little creatures only turn on their light when
disturbed. Probably only a very small proportion of them
ever do light up. Ships pass through these waters rarely,
and their only other cause of fear are the rapacious fish.
Often far out from the ship, the black water would blaze
out with a streak of light where the fin of some marauder
cut the surface.

Their glow is a symptom of distress. But I think that
if I were one of them, I would pray to be frightened at least
once in my life. With such potentiality of glory, it would
be dismal indeed to die without having ever blazed forth.

The friend who was with me is a rich man. I am never
quite at ease when I think of next month's rent. The glow
of these marine fireflies lit up his face as he leaned over the
rail beside me. When he spoke, I understood why his bank
account was more substantial than mine. While I had been
foolishly trying to humanize these brilliant infusoria, wast-

" THE DAEIEN " 107

ing time in imagining for them a soul tragedy, his mind had
been bent to practical things.

"If I knew how to do what those bugs are doing," he said,
"I'd make a fortune. They are generating light without
heat. A real phosphorescent lamp — a good light without
heat — is worth a million — easy."

It was still deep night when we anchored off San Miguel,
the principal village of the largest of the Pearl Islands.
A pinace went ashore with the monthly bag of mail, but there
was no chance to land. The dawn — when the sun came up
out of the sea — among the islands was glorious beyond for-
getting. It was noon before we passed the last of the
islands. Browning speaks of "the sprinkled isles, lily on
lily, that o'erlace the sea and laugh their pride when the
light waves lisp 'Greece'." If lilies are the flowers which
picture the Greek isles, one would have to work cocoanut
palms into the figure to conjure up these Pearl Islands.
They stick in the mind as the symbol of the tropics, all the
world around. They are at their most unforgettable best
when mingled with a sea scene. There are hundreds of
big and little islands in this group — each with its own dis-
tinctive bunch of cocoa-palms, waving against the horizon.

The beauty of the Royal Palm is architectural ; they are
attractive only when arranged in geometrical' design — living
Doric columns of a formal peristyle. The charm of the
cocoanut palm is unconventional, personal. But, as I said
before, even Stevenson could not get the grace of the south-
ern seas down on paper.

As the islands dropped astern, Panama called our atten-
tion over the bow. It is a beautiful city from the sea —
beautiful still in spite of the scar made by the American
quarry on Ancon Hill and the smudge of smoke from the
machine shops and shipping of Balboa.

CHAPTER VIII

THE THIRST FOR GOLD

IT was the quest for gold which brought the first white
man to the Isthmus of Panama. The same "execrable sed
d'oro" — as the brave old missionary, Fray Bartholome" Las
Casas, called it — was the motor power of Balboa and Piz-
arro. Gold built old Panama City. Gold was the bait
which drew the buccaneers. And again it was the thirst
for gold — Californian gold — which woke the Isthmus from its
forgotten sleep in '49 and made it once more the World's
great Short Cut.

In 1911 there is but one gold mine in profitable operation
in the Republic — the Darien Gold Mining Company at
Cana, close to the Colombian border.

But the " sed d'oro " is still a motor power on the Isthmus.
Any day you can find some more or less sane looking indi-
vidual— in the barroom of the "Metropole" or the "Pana-
zone" — who has a gold project to share with you.

There is a man who in some indefinite way discovered
in the moldy archives of Madrid a letter from a monk of
Old Panama which tells where the rich treasures of the
Monastery of San Francisco were buried at the time of
Morgan's raid. The list of jewels and plate reads like an
inventory of the Cave of the Forty Thieves. Only a few
thousand dollars is needed to discover the hiding place.

A large outfit is now at work in the Province of Chiriqui
trying to relocate the old "Tisangel" mine. The bullion
records of the Spanish archives show that this was one of
the richest mines they discovered in the Americas. The

108

THE THIEST FOR GOLD 109

methods of the Conquistadores were very crude and a modern
engineer could make large profits working over their waste.
This outfit has plenty of money and intend to find the old
vein if it takes a decade. They are running five-foot con-
tour lines over a large area — which means in surveyor's
jargon that they are using a fine-tooth comb.

Then there is an endless stream of prospectors, men of
every nationality and color, men who have followed the
scent from Australia to Alaska. They come out of the
jungle sallow with fever, gaunt from hunger, with a sack
of "dust" or a sample of quartz. All they need is a little
capital to open an El Dorado. They are more than anxious
to share their enterprise with you.

That gold is widely distributed on the Isthmus is beyond
dispute. Columbus found the natives wearing gold orna-
ments. The early Spaniards stole immense quantities of it.
And when this bonanza gave out they began digging them-
selves. The archives are explicit on this subject. Even
more conclusive are the reports of many reliable experts.
Placer gold has been located in hundreds of places; veins of
quartz have been charted which assay as high as twenty dol-
lars a ton.

But only the Darien Company pay regular dividends.

The labor costs are prohibitive. The natives will not
work steadily. The Spaniards got around this difficulty by
the simple expedient of slavery. But this method has gone
out of fashion. Imported labor crumples up before the
manifold fevers of the jungle. It is impossible, in the
absence of roads and bridges, to install machinery or pro-
vision a large camp ten miles from navigable water. The
Darien Company is in an unusually salubrious region and
within striking distance of the great Tuyra River. It is the
proverbial exception. Yet the thirst for gold is unslackable.
And a new company is launched every few weeks.

110 PANAMA

The present status of mining on the Isthmus was care-
fully explained to me by a Mr. Moody, a man heavily inter-
ested in fruit-growing. Long residence in Central America
has given him an intimate knowledge of conditions.

"Not for mine," he said. "I suppose I've turned down
a couple of million mining propositions."

"Have none of them panned out?" I asked.

"One. I might have got into a Honduras mine which is
paying. But I'm a business man — not a gambler. If I was
a gambler I'd hit the roulette wheel, where the chances are
only 32 to 1 against you."

About a week later I met Moody in the Cathedral Plaza.

"Well," he said with a sheepish grin, "I've just bought a
gold mine."

A negro, named Pedro, who had once worked for him,
had come that morning to his office with a bag full of sam-
ples— black sand and quartz. He had staked out a claim
on the head waters of the Rio Obre* on the Atlantic slope.
He had made a preliminary denouncement and had come
to Moody to borrow money to pay the fee necessary to gain
permanent possession. The samples, when submitted to a
mining engineer named Duncan, had assayed very high.
The two white men had advanced the necessary money for a
controlling interest in the enterprise. Duncan was going up
in a few days to look over the claim.

It was part of the country very rarely visited by foreigners
so I went along.

"Roughing it" would be an insultingly inadequate term
for that expedition.

As it was just before Easter our little boat was vastly
overcrowded. There were twenty bunks aboard and thirty
women and as many men. The berths were allotted to the
women in the order of their social standing, an easy matter
to determine in Panama, for the ladies use perfume instead

Copyright by Underwood &• Underwood.

BANANA MARKET AT GATUN, ON THE CHAGRES.

THE THIEST FOR GOLD 111

of soap. The Upper Ten use attar of roses. The Four
Hundred take to heliotrope from the world famous atelier
of M. Rouget. It costs in Panama five pesos for a very
small bottle. And so on down the social ladder to the hoi
polloi who use a greenish-yellow smell at one peso the gallon.
The extra ten women and all the men were stowed away in
hammocks.

To add to the discomfort we had no sooner passed beyond
the shelter of the Taboga Islands when we ran into one of
the very rare storms which visit those parts.

I have crossed the Black Sea in a Russian boat over-
loaded with Moslem pilgrims for Mecca. I have crossed
from Tangier to Gibraltar in the dinky little Djibel Dersa
with a gale blowing out of the west. The waves rising higher
and higher all the way across the Atlantic get frightfully
mussed up when they enter the funnel of Trafalgar Bay and
the Straits. And I have seen the bottom nearly blown out
of the barometer off Cape Hatteras. I thought I knew what
it was to be tossed about. But I did not.

Our little coastwise steamer was built to cross the bars
which form at the mouths of tropical rivers, and if she was
loaded with lead to her funnel she would not draw eight
feet. In the morning my knees and elbows were black and
blue where the rolling of the ship had swung my hammock
into the ceiling.

A little after sun-up we swung into the placid, sluggish
Rio Grande and an hour and a half up stream we came to a
pier and a corrugated iron storehouse called Puerto Passado.
The steamer can only get up on the crest of the tide, and for
six hours it rests its flat bottom on the mud, waiting the
next tide to go out.

We found Pedro on the dock waiting for us with three
of the sorriest looking horses it has ever been my misfor-
tune to encounter. But even these sick, mangy, ulcerated

112 PANAMA

brutes were welcome. For the water was falling rapidly
and a tropical river with the tide out is the most desolate
spectacle on earth. There is a revolting lewdness in the
naked slimy roots of the mangrove swamp on either side.
The bottomless mud of the river bed is like a nightmare
from Dore's " Inferno." Here and there a hump of muddier
looking mud moves sluggishly — it takes a decided effort of
the will to believe that it really is an alligator. It would
be much easier not to believe that such things live — in such
a place.

Penonome*, the capital of the Province of Code, is only
thirteen miles inland from Puerto Passado, but with Pedro's
horses it took us three hours.

It is a typical Central America town — a plaza and church
and barn-like government building in the center, a circle
of whitewashed, red-tiled adobe* houses, and on the edge
an irregular cluster of native "ranches," built of cane and
thatch. It is impossible to say where the town ends and the
jungle begins.

We had intended to lay in our provisions here, but Pedro
told us it would be unnecessary. While prospecting on his
claim he had taken to his bosom a widow and her farm.
We would stop the first night with a family of his friends,
and the next be at his place, where the fatted calf would be
waiting us already dressed in pepper-sauce. So all we did was
to secure some real horses and buy some salt — a present much
prized by the CHolo Indians — some cans of butter and jam.

A friend of Pedro brought us some news which promised
excitement. While he had been in Panama his claim had
been "jumped." Three Americans, with a Mexican woman
who passed as their cook, had drifted into Penonome* a few
days after Pedro's departure. They heard of his strike,
bribed the Alcalde and denounced the same claim. Then
they went out to look it over.

THE THIBST FOB GOLD 113

The Alcalde was much disturbed by our appearance.
He had thought that he had no one to deal with except
the negro, Pedro, who was evidently too poor a person to
make trouble. But Duncan is a man of some prominence
in Panama, on friendly terms with the Administration.
The speed with which the Alcalde got down on his knees
was amazing.

As we started out the next morning, Pedro's friend told
us that the Alcalde had despatched a messenger during the
night to warn the claim-jumpers.

But we had hardly gone a mile from Penonome" when all
speculation about the disposition of the intruders was
driven from mind by the immediate difficulty of the trail.
It was at the height of the dry season and the best time of
year for inland travel. During the eight months of rain
the way would have been utterly impassable. Duncan had
prospected all over the Rockies, he had run an asbestos
mine at the bottom of the Grand Canon and had lived for
years in Nicaragua. He said he had never seen a worse trail.
It would be nearer the truth to say it was no trail at all. It
is, however, marked on the Government map — "comino
real."

I found out afterwards that it was a beautiful and inter-
esting country through which we passed. But on that
trip I saw nothing but the tail of my horse. Once in every
few hours we would come to a bit of " Savannah" where
we could get on andk ride — and breathe. But most of it
was foot work, pushing the beasts up a fifty per cent, mud
grade or shoving them down one that was worse. Wading
neck deep in a river to find a ford was a pleasant relief.
I could not make up my mind which was worse, prying the
horses out of quagmires or the machete work when we
had to slash a passage through the jungle to get past some
impossible barrier.

114 PANAMA

I remember once — we had just dragged the horses up a
long hill which was about as good going as climbing the wall
of the hot room in a Turkish bath — and a mile long. I leaned
up against a giant lignum vitce tree, its wide spreading
branches gorgeous with wistaria-colored blossoms. Wiping
the perspiration out of my eyes, I could look out over a wide
valley, half the tree tops in bloom. Ten feet away from me
hung a giant "Annunciation" orchid, white as the wings of
the Archangel. I was about to remark, "By Jove! this is
glorious," when there was a snap and a clatter. The cinch
had broken! My companions were already a good ways
down the trail. And by the time I had the pack rearranged
on the horse they were out of sight, and I had no time to
enjoy the view.

The sun had already gone down when we reached the
"rancho" where we were to pass the night. I have a vague
memory of hanging my hammock, of eating a sort of stew
which Pedro called a "Sancochi" and said was good — and of
a dog who bayed intermittently the night through.

We made an early start the next morning. Eleven hours
more of the trail which was ever just one shade this side of
impossibility.

In the middle of the afternoon we topped the Continental
Divide and started down the Atlantic Slope. Our barom-
eter registered only a little more than one thousand feet.
But it must have been broken — I would have sworn to five
thousand.

The Rio Obre was the boundary to Pedro's claim and just
beyond it we came to the camp of the claim-jumpers. As
we rode towards their tent they made a demonstration in
force.

The Mexican girl stood in the background with a Win-
chester. The three men, looking as bold and bad as they
knew how, strode out to meet us, making a great show of

THE THIRST FOE GOLD lib

jerking their pistol belts into position. I never saw a more
melodramatically rigged out bunch of "bad men" off the
Bowery stage — leather "chaps," sombreros, red handker-
chiefs, mighty spurs. They certainly had made up for the
part.

The outcome was ludicrous anti-climax. I had never
realized how utterly dead the Wild West "bad man" is.
He has crossed the Great Divide into ancient history.

Duncan tipped me the wink and we threw up our hands
and cantered towards them.

"My sons," he said, "I've got a twenty-two single-shot
target-pistol somewhere in my saddle bags. My friend here
is unarmed. The coon has a gun but he couldn't hit a
barn. We're not much on armament, but — we've — got —
the — cash. You bought the Alcalde for twenty pesos. I
could buy him back for twice as much, but it's cheaper to
have him fired. Your claim's no good, you can't afford
to fight in court. Your guns are out-of-date. Money
talks. You'd better lope. There's lots of trails leading out
of this place. You might get run in if you hang around.
Adios!"

Their bold, bad manner wilted. When we passed that
way again they were gone.

Although we had so easily brushed aside these desperados
our troubles had only begun. It was nightfall when we
reached the end of our journey — the farm which Pedro had
taken to his bosom along with its fair owner. It was
deserted.

Pedro said he could not understand it. But it looked
plain to an outsider. Some handsomer man had come
along in his absence and waltzed off with the lady.

The matrimonial arrangement of these people is simple
or complex, according to your point of view. As nobody
ever gets married you hear no scandal about bigamy or

116 PANAMA

divorce. Pedro himself was not in a position to wail over
this desertion. I gathered from his camp-fire reminiscences
that he had been born in British Honduras where he had
had a "church-wife" and child. He had lived for a while
in Carthagena where he had left a woman and child, a
performance which he had repeated in Boca del Toro and
again here.

However, we had little time to wonder over Pedro's
domestic status. We were two days hard riding from the
nearest store, without adequate provisions and no cooking
utensils. We burglariously entered the deserted rancho —
I had never realized how sturdily they are built, till I tried
to break into this one. A careful search revealed two
broken bowls and some gourd cups. We went over the place
with a fine tooth comb and our one candle and could find
no more. We made a shift to boil rice in one of the cracked
pots. It was a sorry meal ! But we were too tired to worry
much. In the morning we hoped to find, if not the fatted
calf, at least some growing vegetables.

We found nothing. The lady in departing had taken
everything — even digging up the yams. The more we looked
about, the less tenable our position appeared. As I had not
been stung by the gold microbe, I was all for a quick retreat
to our base of supplies. But not so with these prospectors,
white and black; they had the thirst. They were on the
scent and a little matter like nothing to eat was a mere
bagatelle. The prospector's fever is like first love in its
wild insistency. It is unlike it in that it is just as wild the
seventy times seventh time as it is the first.

They scraped together a scant breakfast and off we went.
It was machete work all the day, except when we waded
knee-deep in a stream. When we reached the place where
Pedro had found his samples it was shovel out and intense
excitement. Duncan held the pan and Pedro filled it with

TEE THIRST FOB GOLD 117

gravel and yellow mud. Side by side, on their knees, by
the edge of the stream they nursed and rocked the pan.
Gradually the coarse refuse washed away and only the
coal black sand was left. The tension grew steadily as the
process continued. The supreme moment comes when you
drain off the water and look for the "streak." Their two
pairs of eyes peered over the edge. Yes. There was
"color!" At the very edge of the handful of black sand
there were half a dozen specks of dull gold. Even my
inexperienced eyes could see it. But I — hungry and tired
and ill-tempered — pretended not to. How they waved
their hands and shouted at me!

All day long the scent held them. Slashing through the
jungle, clambering over the rocks, wading up the river —
again and again washing out a panful of gravel — and always
vain efforts to make me admit that I saw "color."

Near the place where the quartz vein cropped out they
washed one pan of dirt which was really rich. I could see
twenty or thirty minute specks of gold. Duncan said there
were fifty "colors."

"Why," he said, "it's like a star-chart! Can't you see
them sparkling in the black sand background?"

They may have sparkled for him, but I was no-end hun-
gry, having had a poor sort of breakfast and no lunch at all.

About four o'clock we struck our first and only piece of
good fortune. In the midst of the jungle we stumbled onto
a deserted farm. There were some cocoanut palms and some
yams. With much shooting we knocked down half a dozen
nuts. We were well supplied with best of sauces, and those
cocoanuts certainly were welcome. Pedro dug up some
yams, and we made camp again just at dusk.

One day of prospecting did not satisfy them, but it was
enough for me and I spent the next days exploring the
neighborhood.

118 PANAMA

Close to the deserted "rancho" there was a little river
with the queer name of the "Rio Brasses de U." Taking
an early morning bath in it, I suddenly set eyes on a most
appetizing looking fish. It was a foot and a half long with
silver scales, splashed with black and red. We were short
on cooking utensils, but a fish can be planked. A water-
fall cut off his escape up-stream, I built a makeshift dam
and weir a hundred feet below where he was so peacefully
digesting his morning haul of sand flies. A very gorgeous
paroquet, in a motley of green and scarlet, jeered at me
from a coco bolo tree. Every time I made a jump at that
fish he croaked out a phrase in his jungle lingo which sounded
like, and certainly meant, "Foiled again!" After half an
hour's splashing about I gave up hope of catching him in
my hands or spearing him. But I kept at it, hoping to scare
him to death. But he had nerves of iron. At last I lost
interest in the fish and began throwing stones at the paro-
quet. Even a Paris cab-driver could have learned some-
thing new in profanity by listening to that bird's conversa-
tion.

In the afternoon help came. I was dozing in my ham-
mock and suddenly awoke with the startled feeling that
someone was looking at me. In the doorway of the rancho
was a sour looking old "brave." It gave little comfort to
remember that the Cholo Indians are a peaceful tribe.
I had an uncomfortable conviction that he was probably
the man who had superseded Pedro in the affections of the
owner of the "rancho." Our right to make free with the
place was decidedly vague.

However he was more surprised to see me than I was to
see him. With my six words of Spanish I soon made peace
with him. He and his family appeared to be moving.
There were two women in the party — each one had a baby
astraddle of her hip and the younger one also had a papoose

TEE THIEST FOE GOLD 119

strapped to her back. A boy of twelve and a girl of ten
were superintending the maneuvers of a donkey piled high
with household goods. By means of slight of hand tricks
and pantomime and the six Spanish words, I succeeded in
trading our salt for all the food they had and two usable
kettles.

So although I had no planked fish nor paroquet stew for
the prospectors I managed quite an elaborate supper.

The Indian family camped with us for the night and by
despatching the youngster off to a settlement some miles
away we found fresh eggs and vegetables waiting for our
breakfast and also three husky young Cholos — eager for
work and a chance to go to town.

So we took our time on the home trail. And leaving the
care of the horses and luggage to the Indians were able to
walk at our ease and enjoy the manifold wonders of the
jungle.

Whether or not the samples we brought back to civiliza-
tion will assay high enough to make the claim valuable, I
have, of course, no way of knowing. That is a matter for
experts. But of one thing I am sure. Before machinery
could be taken up that trail or any sort of a labor camp
installed, a great many thousands of dollars would have to
be sunk in road building.

The memory of those hungry days and that bitter hard
trail make it easy for me to understand that even in this
country, where gold is found on every hand, only one mine
is paying dividends.

CHAPTER IX

THE JUNGLE

To the lover of our northern woods, the jungle is a never-
ending surprise.

There is the old story of the Irishman who went to a
circus. When he saw the kangaroo he threw up his hands
and said, "You can't fool me. There ain't no such crea-
ture." To the person who has never been nearer the tropics
than the orchid room of some great botanical garden, a trip
into the jungle is a constant strain on his credulity.

A hundred times in the interior of Panama my soul has
longed for Old John Petrie, who knows the north shore of
Lake Superior with uncanny precision. How utterly he
would be at sea in a mangrove swamp ! It would have been
joy unspeakable to watch his woodlore crumple up in a for-
est where no bark was familiar to this touch, to see him
helpless in the bottom of a cayuka watching the amazing
feats of the Cholo Indians poling their heavy dug-out
against a current — just as I have sat in humble admiration
of his skill in driving a paper-weight birch-bark up the
rapids of the Sand River. And then I would have had no
end of evil glee watching the tears of helpless rage in his
eyes as he turned the edge of that marvellous axe of his
against an iron-reed or lignum vitce. Anyone who knows
him or his kind can picture his disgust at having to give it
up, while the natives brought in the firewood with their
machetes. How a North Woods guide would despise a
machete! And how his eyes would pop out when he saw
what a Spanish-Indian can do with one.

120

THE JUNGLE 121

In one respect the jungle is like the great Sahara or the
sea. It is a thing of fear — and death — to the people who
must live in it. A thing of beauty — a rich experience — only
to the traveller who passes through for pleasure.

There are two old sisters down Cape Cod way who keep
a summer boarding house. Their guests come to play with
the ocean, to splash in the surf, to build castles in the sand
and sail in toy boats. The two old women are fisher folk,
their father and brothers, the husband and son of one, the
lover of the other, have been swallowed up in the sea. And
when their guests, tired of romping with the monster, troop
up from the beach, laughing, there is a look of concentrated
horror in the eyes of the sisters.

It is the same with the jungle. There is a man whom
you may meet in Panama, yellow with fever, bent and
twisted with rheumatism, the wreck of a strong man, old
before his time. He has been defeated in a five-year strug-
gle with the jungle. He has sunk not only his health and
his own money, but all he could borrow from friends — and
strangers. He has gone broke in an effort to cash in some
of the luxuriant wealth of the jungle. He hates the word.
His scheme sounds perfectly good. As he tells it to you in
some cafe, despite the gaunt ruin of his face, it sounds good.
There was no fraud to his failure, no carelessness. He was
a man used to success, he appreciated all the importance of
the minute details which go to make it. His scheme was
well thought out and his face and bent figure show you
how utterly he spent himself in the enterprise. The jungle
had made sport of him. Freshets had swept away his
camp. The thousands he had put into his road had been
washed out in a night. Three separate times the river had
upset his canoes, swallowing each time a season's provisions.
A rare disease, of which only a few cases have been observed
in Ancon Hospital, killed two of his foremen, one after the

122 PANAMA

other. Lightning had smashed a derrick and a donkey-
engine which he had brought into the jungle with incredible
exertion. The jungle had said, "No."

And so at Biskra, on the edge of the desert, one can see
gaunt-faced, spare-limbed Bedouins looking in uncompre-
hending wonder at the ecstasy of tourists raving over the
beauties of their barren, hungry home. The natives of the
Isthmus do not share my enthusiasm for the jungle. To
them it means fields which will not stay cleared. Just as
the Hollander cannot stop work on his dykes, so the Pana-
manian can never lay down his machete. In three weeks
his farm would be engulfed.

The jungle, with all its wondrous beauty, is the enemy
of the man who works in it. But for the traveller, who has
a week or so to spare, it offers endless variety, endless in-
terest and "newness."

Thousands of tourists visit the Isthmus every year. It
is remarkable how few of them seize the opportunity for a
jungle excursion — an experience which does not offer itself
often to the busy American.

Of course with the wrong equipment one can be just as
bitterly uncomfortable in the tropics as one would be in
Greenland in a bathing suit. But with ordinary common-
sense one can cross the Isthmus anywhere west of the
Canal Zone with as few hardships as one would expect in
Canada.

One wants khaki clothes, as light as is consistent with
toughness, leggings, a poncho, and a hammock. Above all,
one must be prepared for the wet. Many of the trails lead
up the bed of a stream, and in the mountains one must
expect some rain.

If you go into the jungle for pleasure, go afoot. What
look like automobile roads on the map turn out to be steps
in the hillside — and slippery ones. I do not know anything

TEE JUNGLE 123

more vexatious than a horse without a trail. Two Indians
can carry more freight than a horse, and will do it cheaper.
Best of all, they will put on their own packs. The natives
are not initiated into the mystery of the "diamond hitch,"
or any other hitch for that matter.

Two tenderfoots ought to be able to make a two weeks
trip on less than five dollars a day. Unless they can speak
Spanish fluently, they should hire a "boss" in Panama.
It is expedient to make your contract explicit and to register
it at the consulate. The Panamanians have considerable
skill in charging for extras. It is also well to pay a call of
respect on the Alcalde of every village you enter. It flatters
him and puts him on your side in case of a dispute.

In making out a list of provisions, it is worth while to
include salt, powder and shot, or knives. They are presents
much appreciated by the Indians. Needles will win the
hearts of the older ladies, cheap mirrors those of the belles.

Once out of sight of the American-built houses of the
Canal Zone, you enter a wonderland. If you encounter
any living thing which even remotely resembles any tree
or beast or bird you ever saw in the States, it is something
to talk about all day.

On my first trip into the interior, it was necessary for
me after a few days to leave the outfit and make my way
back to civilization alone. It was one of the pleasantest
days in my memory. There was a bit of excitement to it,
as I was green to the jungle, did not know the trail and had
only a few words of Spanish. However, the Indians said
they could make the distance in five hours, with an early
start, I had twice as many. And to enjoy nature, or any-
thing worth while, one must have leisure.

My horse would have spoiled it all, if it had not been for
him a home trail. Very little of the way was practicable
for riding. But as his nose was aimed toward his manger he

124 PANAMA

followed readily. At times it was necessary to cut a way for
him through the jungle, around a fallen tree, a bottomless
quagmire or other obstacle impossible for a horse, but beyond
these delays, he bothered me very little. On the out trip,
going away from his stable, he had been a constant nuisance.
Most of the time I scouted far enough ahead to find the
jungle undisturbed by his noise.

The most striking thing about the jungle, the thing which
hits you in the face, is the color. There is none of the
modulation, the melting of one shade into another, of the
North.

Back of everything is the all-pervading green. So slight
are the differences in values of the various greens that it is
almost impossible to get a photograph of tropical foliage.
No matter how small a diaphragm I used, nor how long the
exposure, my negatives came out a blank. The ever-
present background is an almost undifferentiated green.
And spattered all over it, like a post-impressionist painting,
are masses of color in most vivid contrasts. And this is
one of the hard-to-believe things about the jungle — these
slap-dash daubs of lurid yellow, crimson, green and dazzling
white are beautiful. Somehow the intense southern light
reduces this unspeakable gaudiness to a rich, but real, har-
mony. Somehow the jungle, to use theatrical slang, "puts
over" bizarre color schemes which at home would justify
homicide. Look through any book on color for a list of
shades which will not harmonize. You will find them side
by side in the jungle. I cannot ask you to believe that
such indecent combinations are beautiful. I could not be-
lieve it when I saw them, but it is true.

A few details of that gorgeous tapestry stick in my mem-
ory. There is a tree — its bare stalk, six inches round, rises
ten or fifteen feet — with a crest of giant buttercups, half a
foot across. There are lignum vitce — immense trees, the

TEE JUNGLE 125

hardest kind of wood that grows — whose myriad tiny blos-
soms are the color of wistaria. There are a dozen flowering
trees — the Royal Poinciana, it is known to people who have
wintered in Florida. Another — its name I could not dis-
cover— which breaks out into great clouds of honey yellow
— you can see them blazing out on the mountain sides miles
and miles away.

Side by side these giant flowers of the Eocene, the ten-
foot festoons of maiden-hairish ferns and Cyclopian tufts
of grass, there is an innumerable variety of minute flowers.
There is a tiny hair-like stalk which balances a little bluebell
no bigger than one blossom of a mignonette.

And then there are the orchids. A little wax-white blos-
som of tube rose texture is common, but no orchid can be
commonplace. Even the simplest of them have an ele-
ment of mystery, of the unbelievable, about them. The
natives express this by the names they give them. This
common white orchid they call "The Tears of the Virgin."
A red variety they have christened "The Seventh Deadly
Sin." "The Annunciation," "The Bride of Christ," all the
names suggest the unearthliness of these air-plants. The
daffodil-yellow variety, the kind one looks at longingly in
the florist's shop and, remembering next month's rent, turns
from to buy her roses, can be found here by the score.

I encountered one orchid which was new to me, which I
have never found listed in any catalogue. A thin twisted
stem, which looked like a telephone wire, hung down ten
feet or more from a great branch which stretched across the
trail. Just above my reach, standing in the saddle, was a
battery of a score of buds, like those of a gladiola. Half of
them had broken open. The blossoms were unutterably
red — intenser scarlet than the hybiscus. I spent an hour
trying to encompass its downfall, but old Dame Nature
had been especially proud of this bit of handiwork and had

126 PANAMA

hung it safely out of reach. It was so perfect it would be
hard to believe in its counterpart.

Of vines and creepers there is an equally dizzying variety.
One of them is, I am sure, the original inspiration of the
"clinging vine" tradition. It kills the tree it grows upon
not by strangulation, but by smothering. Its leaves grow
with a precision which seems intelligent. They lay flat on
the bark of the tree, overlapping each other about a quarter
of an inch, until they have enveloped the doomed trunk in
an air tight sheath. And a tree must breathe.

"Luxuriant" is not a strong enough word to describe the
vegetation of the jungle. I know no word which is. There
is a prolificness about it which makes shad roe look like a
symbol of race suicide. One is oppressed by a feeling that
the jungle is continually giving birth — that it is guilty of
mad, ungoverned spawning. Death comes to the things
of the jungle, not so much from extraneous accident as from
the sheer pressure of birth. The new is pushing into life
with such indecent haste, such irresistible insistence, that
nothing has a chance to reach a ripe maturity. The rot-
ting leaves underfoot seem to have been only half developed.

So strenuous is the vegetable life, that animals are crowded
out. The largest quadruped is a stunted deer. Most of the
fauna are pre-glacial types which have persisted in degen-
erate form. Walking along the trail that day I encountered
a tapir. It seemed a dwarf strayed out of the Age of Mam-
moths. It is the same with the iguana. They are often
referred to as the "giant lizard." I have seen several in
the jungle, two and three — one close to five — feet long.
But they are "giants" only because the day of lizards is
gone. They are degenerate offspring of monsters which
have long since passed away. Even the representatives of
the cats — which the natives call a "tiger" — is a puny thing.

But if the plants have preempted the ground space, to

THE JUNGLE 127

the exclusion of the prouder animal forms, the air is free
for abundant insect life. You cannot walk ten feet without
crossing the trail — a well-beaten path — of some variety of
ants. The tropics are the happy hunting grounds of the
entomologists. Mr. Busck, a unit in the Biological Survey,
which the Smithsonian Institution is making on the Canal
Zone, has collected several thousand varieties of moths —
from the ghostly venus moth to the minute, almost micro-
scopic species, which are his special interest. I have been
afield with Professor Schwartz, the beetle-man of the
Survey. I recall one time when he spread a sheet under a
low-hanging palm blossom. He struck the great pod with
the flat of his machete and the sheet was covered with
hurrying, scurrying life. Over forty varieties of bugs had
fallen out of that one flower.

Details — all these things I have recounted! They are
the proverbial trees which distract the view from the
forest. Back of them all stands the jungle, an entity, one
and indescribable. I think everyone who has ever entered
the jungle has felt it as a personality — hardly lovable, but
infinitely fascinating. No one can escape the spell of its
beauty, a beauty rich and luxuriant and threatening, a
beauty underlaid with dread — it is something like a tiger's
paw, rich in color, caressingly soft and dangerous. If you
could make a woman out of the ideals of Rubens, da Vinci
and Manet she — a compound of the exuberant vulgarity of
the Dutchman's nymphs, of Mona Lisa's exotic, ineffable
smile, and of the cold cruelty of "Olympia" — she would
have the charm I spoke of. But no painter ever put such
a woman on canvas. No writer has, or ever will, give an
adequate description of the jungle.

One experience stands out, from all my memories of the
jungle, like a vignette.

Working my way along the unknown trail that day I

128 PANAMA

questioned the few people I met about the directions. At
one time I passed a field where an Indian and his wife and
several children were at work, but too far from the path
to be hailed. A little beyond them I came to more open
country and a chance to ride — and then the trail forked.
Whether to turn to the right or left I had no way of know-
ing. Should I go back the half mile and ask or take a
chance? I pitched a penny and took the right-hand road.
But a pitched penny has its limitations as an oracle and I
was not at all sure that I had been wise in blindly accepting
its advice. But hardly a hundred yards beyond the fork
I came to a clearing and a rancho. In a little lean-to kitchen
a girl of about sixteen was pounding rice. Like all the
Indian women outside of towns she wore only a meagre
skirt. At sight of a stranger, she gave a dismayed squeal
and darted into the house. I did not want to frighten her,
but I did want to know if I was on the right trail. I rode
up to the house and without dismounting, I hailed her.

" Buenos dios, Senorita."

No reply. Through some crevice in the wattle wall of
the rancho, I knew she was watching me. I endeavored to
assume a harmless expression. " Senorita," I called again.

No reply. Well, if she was going to be obstinate, I could
be as stubborn as any Cholo Indian. So I sat tight and
waited. I could feel her eyes spying at me. After awhile
she seemed reassured and peeked around the door post and
asked what I wanted.

"Is this the main trail?" I asked.

If all I wanted was to inquire my way, she decided that
she had nothing to fear and came out on the threshold.

"Si, Senor. . . ." And then a string of rapid Span-
ish which I guessed to be detailed directions but which I
could not understand.

I asked her to speak slowly — told her that I knew very

THE JUNGLE 129

little Spanish. Her big eyes opened wider. I suppose she
had never known of anyone, except new-born babies, who
could not talk fluently. I tried to explain the situation to
her, telling her that I was a Gringo and came from another
country very far away. But this was entirely beyond her
comprehension. The pitying look came to her face which
we use on the hopelessly insane. I doubt if she had seen
six white men in her life — and they had all been able to
talk. But she had seen Indians who had been touched by
God — loko — and I was more like them than the Spaniards.

No one likes to be thought crazy, and besides she was a
very pretty youngster. The face of the Cholos is broader
than we like, the bodies of the older folk are heavy and
squat. But this slip of a girl might well have served as
model to some dainty eighteenth-century painter.

I tried desperately to appear intelligent. I succeeded in
asking her if she had any oranges or bananas. Yes. She
had a tree full of oranges back of the rancho. The way she
went up that tree was a wonder to see. She had all the
agility, but none of the ungracefulness, of a monkey. I
could not think of the Spanish word for " enough" or
"stop," and she threw down almost two dozen. I tied up
my horse and sat down at the foot of a cocoanut palm and
began to eat. I tried to get her to join me. But I sup-
pose an Indian woman does not eat in the presence of the
Lord of Creation. She squatted down a little way apart
and watched me closely. I think she was wondering if I
was crazy enough to try to eat with my ear.

Whenever I could think of two Spanish words which hang
together I would say them. At first she took it very sol-
emnly, but after awhile some of my incongruous output
twitched her sense of humor, and she laughed. And that
is a notable thing about primitive peoples, they have not
learned to cut themselves up into fractions. A civilized

130 PANAMA

woman can laugh with her eyes, or her lips, while her shoul-
ders droop mournfully. But this little Minnehaha laughed
all over — her knees, her toes, her whole body wriggled with
mirth. And somehow it relieved the depression of my
spirit. Even if she did think I was an imbecile, she evi-
dently considered me an amusing one. That was some
comfort.

She brought me a calabash of spring water for a finger
bowl. I pleased her mightily with the gift of a little round
looking-glass — and so rode away.

I know she will treasure the mirror, and when she admires
herself in it, she will remember me. There is something
warming in the thought that I will be often in her mind.
I wonder if she tells everybody about the crazy Gringo who
made her laugh. I have a feeling that she has kept the
adventure rather secret. I wonder if the husband who will
sometime claim her will be subtle enough to be jealous of
me.

A banal experience, when written down. Just a usually
unsentimental Yankee globe-trotter, who is a poor linguist,
and a half-naked, woefully ignorant Indian girl who met in
the jungle and laughed together. And yet it is not banal.

Once upon a time I was in Venice — and bitterly blue.
Two friends who were very happy took me out in their
gondola to hear the evening singing on the Lagoon, by
Santa Maria della Salute. They sat in front of me and were
so happy they forgot everything but each other — which
helped to intensify my " blues." The gondolas crowd
about the singing barges so close that the man who passes
the hat can step from one to another. My thoughts were
very far away, when a gondola aimed in the opposite direc-
tion grated alongside of ours. I looked up — into a pair of
very wise brown eyes. I do not know whether there were
others in that boat, nor how the woman was dressed. I

THE JUNGLE 131

saw only those quiet, gentle eyes — and something very
vague and unwrit cable behind them. Very slowly the boats
slipped apart — gradually those glowing eyes disappeared
in the dusk. What manner of woman she was I have no
idea. But the something I saw back of her eyes straight-
ened out and smoothed many things which were awry.
The moonlight on the stained and faded palaces was sheer
glory. The music found a perfect harmony. Even the
succulent happiness of my friends took on a mystic beauty.
I think that in that one night under the influence of those
wonderful eyes, I saw Vencie as Whistler and the great
artists have seen it.

This Lady of Venice has passed utterly out of my life —
and yet she remains, a more vivid reality than Venice itself.
It is the same with this Cholo girl in the jungle. I will
never see her again. And yet she stands out in my memory
as a definite, indestructible addition to my treasure store
of real experiences.

Almost all of us, I think, have some such memories
horded away. Life would be barren indeed if there was
nothing to it except the things which can be written down
explicitly — catalogued.

The charm of the jungle is just such a floating, haunting
thing. In the reports of the Smithsonian Institution you will
find its details catalogued but you will not find it. Henri
Bergeson would say that it makes its appeal to that "in-
tuitional fringe of consciousness" which cannot find expres-
sion in words — the language of reason.

CHAPTER X

THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN

THE first Europeans to visit the Isthmus of Panama were
those who, under the leadership of Rodrigo de Bastides, sailed
from Cadiz in October, 1500. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was
among them. The records of this expedition are meagre,
but we know that they picked up the main land of South
America near Trinidad and coasted westward, past the Gulf
of Darien and along the Isthmus as far as Nombre de Dios.

The "Lettera Rarissima di Cristoforo Colombo," an
Italian version of a despatch from the great discoverer to
Ferdinand and Isabella, contains the earliest account of the
Isthmus in existence. He wrote this letter while ship-
wrecked on the coast of Jamaica at the end of his fourth and
last voyage to the Indies.

It is interesting to note in passing one of the great ironies
of history. Above all others the English-speaking peoples
have profited from the discoveries of Columbus. During
his lifetime they did not know of his existence. The Old
World took little interest in the finding of a new one.

The earliest allusion to Columbus in English literature is
in "The Shyppe of Fooles," a satirical poem which Henry
Watson translated from the German. It is written in the
spirit of Juvenal's satire "On the Vanity of Human Wishs."
One chapter is headed "Of hym that wyll wryte and enquere
of all regyons," and the following lines refer to Columbus:

"There was one that knewe that in ye ysles of Spayne was
enhabitantes. Wherefore he asked of Kynge Ferdynandus
& wente & founde them, the whiche lyved as beestes."

132

THE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 133

This book was printed in London in 1509, three years after
the death of the admiral — more than fifteen years after his
discoveries were known in Spain and Italy.

"Until the middle of the sixteenth century," writes John
Fiske, "no English chronicler mentions either Columbus or
the Cabots, nor is there anywhere an indication that the
significance of the discoveries in the western ocean was at all
understood."

As a matter of fact, the westward cruises had not been
"good business." The Portuguese, sailing around the Cape
of Good Hope, were finding real treasure houses in the Orient.
Compared with this trade, Columbus had little to show. At
best he had found a shorter course, to a very poor section of
the Indies. It was the failure of any of the western expedi-
tions to reach the Court of the Great Khan which was the
motive of Columbus's last voyage. He had made himself in-
tensely unpopular at court by insisting that the king should
keep his promise. He had discredited himself during his
governorship of Santo Domingo. And now, an old man of
over sixty, he set out again to retrieve his reputation. He
would bring back from this voyage not some naked savages,
a few handfuls of gold dust and pearls, but presents from the
Great Khan.

On the 9th or llth of May, 1502 (the date is uncertain), he
sailed from Cadiz with four caravels, the largest of which was
under fifty tons. He was accompanied by his brother
Bartholomew, the Adelantado and his younger son, Fer-
dinando, the child of the mysterious noble woman of Cordova,
Donna Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. The boy was less than
fourteen years of age.

It was a little over a month when they sighted the first
of the Caribbee Isles, and on the 29th of June they cast
anchor before the port of Santo Domingo. But the Governor
Ovando reftised to admit them, so they put to sea again and

134 PANAMA

were forced by a hurricane to put into Puerto Hermoso at
the western end of the island. The admiral remained here
several days to repair his ships and refresh the men. Another
storm forced him to seek shelter again and he was weather-
bound in Jacquemel until the 14th of July.

On the 30th they reached a new island, called by the
natives "Guanaja." It was close to the coast of Honduras.
Here they met a large cayuka which had come from the
west. It was cut from a single trunk and was eight feet
wide. Near the centre of this immense canoe was a thatched
cabin which reminded Columbus of the gondolas of Venice.
There were twenty-five oarsmen, besides the chieftain and
his family. The natives had implements of copper, the
first metal tools seen by the Spaniards in America. Among
other novelties mentioned in the "lettera rarissima" were two
new beverages which the Indians offered to the voyagers —
cocoa and a fermented drink made from maize. The visitors
were also surprised to find that the wives of the chief covered
their bodies with great care. The account says that they
were as modest as Moorish women.

These natives tried to impress the Spaniards with the
might and magnificence of their country. Such stories
were what Columbus was hungry for and he probably
exaggerated them in his report. If he had accepted their
invitation to visit their homes he would undoubtedly have
come to Yucatan and the Aztec peoples and his career would
have ended in a new glory instead of disappointment. But
he was keen for the greater accomplishment of finding the
"Strait," the short cut to Cathay. Besides he thought that
Cuba was part of the mainland and that to have gone toward
the west was to return to lands he had already visited.

So he sailed on in his hopeless quest. On the 14th of
August he struck the mainland at Cape Honduras. Three
days later the Adelantado landed and took possession of the

THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 135

coast in the name of the Spanish Crown. This occasion is
said to have been the first time that a Christian service was
held on the continent of America.

They sailed eastward along the coast of Honduras, tacking
continually against a head wind and opposing current, never
making more than five leagues, sometimes less than two.
The sailors became so exhausted with the constant struggle
that they confessed to each other and prepared themselves
for death.

Even in the days when the Almirante was going back to
Spain in chains, his condition does not seem to have been as
pitiable as at this time. He himself was wracked with
"gout" — more probably what we would call rheumatism.
His crazy little ships were in a sore plight from the continual
buffeting of the storms.

In the "lettera rarissima" he writes, "I have seen many
tempests but none so violent nor of so long duration." " The
distress of my son," he writes in another paragraph, "grieved
me to the soul, and the more when I consider his tender age;
for he was but thirteen years old, and he enduring so much
toil for so long a time." And again, "My brother was in
the ship that was in the worst condition and the most exposed
to danger; and my grief on his account was the greater that
I had brought him with me against his will."

For a full month after reaching Cape Honduras they fought
their way against the gale. On the 14th of September they
came to a sharp turn in the coast. Able now to head due
south, with favorable wind and current, they were so relieved
that they named the place "Cape Gracios d Dios."

On the 25th they came to a beautiful island off the mouth
of a river which they named "La Huesta," The Garden.
The natives were friendly and Columbus wishing to give the
impression of magnanimity refused to accept their presents
although he gave them many trinkets. This breach of

136 PANAMA

barbarian hospitality insulted the Indians and they returned
all his gifts. But peace was soon restored and two young
girls were sent out to the ships as hostages. There is some
obscurity in the narrative as to just what happened to these
girls while on board. But Columbus seems to have con-
sidered them a bad lot.

On the following day the Adelantado went ashore. He
began to dictate to his clerk the information he could gather
about the coast. But at the sight of pen and paper the
Indians took fright, thinking it was magic. They would not
return until their medicine-men had made some counter-
magic and had burned a lot of protective incense. Now,
in reverence for the black art, the Europeans of that day
were not a bit behind the naked inhabitants of America.

Marco Polo in describing a vague country which he calls
Soccotera, had written: "The inhabitants deal more in
sorcery and witchcraft than any other people, although for-
bidden by their archbishop, who excommunicates and
anathematizes them for this sin. ... If any vessel
belonging to a pirate should injure one of theirs, they do not
fail to lay him under a spell, so that he cannot proceed on
his cruise until he has made satisfaction for the damage.
. . . They can in like manner cause the sea to become calm,
and at their will can raise tempests, occasion shipwrecks and
produce many other extraordinary effects that need not be
particularized."

Certainly some of Columbus's crew had read this narrative.
And of course this made the cause of all their mishaps very
clear. They were in the neighborhood of Soccotera. No
matter what form the hospitality of the rough sailors took
toward the two hostages, the young ladies were undoubtedly
lucky to escape from the ships without having been burned as
witches.

On the 5th of October, the squadron sailed from La

THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 137

Huestra and its magic, along the shore of Costa Rica, to
Almirante Bay and Chiriqui Lagoon, the limit of the present
Republic of Panama.

Here the Spaniards found the natives wearing ornaments
of pure gold and also masonry walls. The first they had seen
which even distantly resembled civilized architecture.

In one place they secured seventeen plates of gold, worth
one hundred and fifty ducats, for three hawks' bells. At
another village they got nineteen gold ornaments. And
always the natives told them of richer countries down the
coast. All these vague stories — they must have been much
distorted by the lack of knowledge of the native language —
confirmed Columbus in the delusion that he was nearing
Cathay. His report is full of a country which the natives
called "Ciguare," where gold was as common as mud, where
even the beggar women wore strings of priceless pearls, and
where there were great ships like his own and a widespread
commerce. "I should be content," he wrote, "if a tithe of
this which I hear is true. . . . They also say that the sea
surrounds Ciguare and that ten days journey from thence is
the river Ganges." They told him that by proceeding on
his course he would soon come to " a narrow place between
two seas." Of course they were speaking of the Isthmus.
But Columbus, with a fixed idea, interpreted this to mean the
long sought "straits of Malacca." His writings show that
he thought he was coasting down one side of a long penin-
sular, like his native Italy, and that he would soon round
the end of it and sail into the fabulous water of the Indies.

Despite the desire of his crew to stop and explore this
country so rich in gold, Columbus persistently held his course
along the coast.

Washington Irving, whose extravagant admiration for
Columbus makes him grasp every opportunity to eulogize
him, makes this comment :

138 PANAMA

" Nothing could evince more clearly his generous ambition,
than hurrying in this brief manner along a coast where wealth
was to be gathered at every step, for the purpose of seeking a
strait which, however it might produce vast benefit for man-
kind, could yield little else to himself than the glory of the
discovery."

But the insistence with which the great navigator de-
manded the recognition of his titles, the payment of all his
perquisites — in striking contrast to the modesty of such men
as di Gama — forces one to doubt if Columbus was so dis-
interested as Irving would have us believe. His arrogance
and cruelty had made him impossible as a governor of Santo
Domingo, his pride and greed had destroyed his original
popularity at the Spanish court. The discovery of the
straits — the quick route to the Spice Islands and Cathay —
meant not only personal rehabilitation, reinvestment in his
high dignities, but also restoration of his right to lay tribute
on the lands he had discovered. And Columbus, more than
the stay-at-home official of Spain, foresaw what a gigantic
income this would grow to be. He had come on this cruise
to load his caravels not with gold — with vindication. He
needed the Straits.

On November 2d, he came to the magnificent harbor which
he named Puerto Bello. They were stormbound here for a
week, then continued eastward, past Nombre de Dios.
Rough weather forced them again to seek shelter in a harbor,
which they called Puerto de Bastimentos.

The ships were in a pitiful state. Besides the strain from
the continued storms, they had been eaten by ship worm, the
pest of tropical waters, until they leaked like sieves. The
" teredo" is a jelly-like animal, about the size of a man's
finger. It is all soft except its formidable mandibles with
which it penetrates the hardest wood as easily as cheese.
They swarm in these waters and no wooden vessel unpro-

THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 139

tected by copper can resist them. The Spaniards described
them as " worms," but they are a subdivision of the mol-
lusks.

Having somewhat repaired his ships, the Admiral again
set sail, again to be driven to shelter by a storm. This
harbor was so small they called it El Retrete, or The Closet.
The natives at first were friendly. Irving says they "received
them into their dwellings with their accustomed hospitality,
but the rough adventurers, instigated by avarice and lust,
soon committed excesses which aroused their generous hosts
to revenge." The ships were anchored so close to shore that
Columbus could not keep his men on board. There were a
number of brawls and at last it was necessary to disperse the
natives with the ship's cannon.

Columbus had now overlapped the voyage of Bastides.
Spaniards had followed the coast westward from Trinidad
and southeastward from Cape Honduras past Nombre de
Dios. If Columbus knew the details of the earlier voyage he
knew that his dream of the Strait had been an illusion. But
there is nothing in his writings to show that he did know it.

However his caravels were scarcely seaworthy, his sailors
were mutinous, and he was sick. They were all — ships and
men — worn to the breaking point by the long and bitter
struggle with adverse winds.

On the 5th of December, Columbus sailed out of Puerto
El Retrete and turned back. If he could not win the fame
he had sought the gold was not to be despised. He had
hardly set out on the return voyage when the seasons changed
and the wind completely shifted. For three months they had
longed for such a wind. Now, as though truly bewitched, it
turned just as they did. Off Puerto Bello they ran into the
worst hurricane they had yet encountered. To add to the
terror of the phosphorescent waters, the blinding lightning,
they were nearly swamped by a waterspout. The sailors

140 PANAMA

almost gave up hope. As a last chance they recited portions
of the Gospel of St. John. It proved a more powerful charm
than that of the girl hostages from La Huesta, and the water-
spout turned aside and left them unharmed.

All during Christmas week they were buffeted by this
storm. They were further disspirited by a school of sharks
which persistently followed them. So troublesome and
changeable were the winds and tides that Columbus named
the isthmus, "La Costa de los Contrastes."

But on Epiphany Sunday they came to a sheltered harbor
which they called Santa Maria de Belen — St. Mary of
Bethlehem.

While the sailors were busy repairing the ships the Adelan-
tado with a handful of soldiers began the quest for gold. On
the 9th of January they visited the Cacique whom they called
Quiban. They traded some European trumpery for some
valuable gold ornaments and persuaded him to visit the ships.
There they courteously traded a handful of hawks' bells for
his remaining ornaments.

On the 24th of January a typical Panamanian freshet
nearly ended the expedition. The Rio Belen rose so rapidly
that it tore the ships from their anchors, drove them against
each other and carried away the foremast of the flagship.
In the hope of changing his luck, Columbus named the
highest mountain he could see after his own saint — San
Christoval. He says in his letter that the peak rose far above
the clouds. The clouds must have hung very low in those
days.

Early in February the Adelantado with sixty-five men went
up the coast to the Rio Veraguas, the seat of the Cacique
Quiban, who gave him some guides to the gold fields. They
went six leagues into the interior and found rich placer gold.
Columbus wrote, on the basis of their report, that he had
seen more signs of gold here in a few days, than in the four

THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 141

years he had spent in Santo Domingo. He was convinced
that he had reached the Aurea Chersoneus of the Ancients.

" Josephus thinks," he wrote, "that this gold of the Chron-
icles and the Book of Kings was found in the Aurea. If it
were so, I contend that these mines of the Aurea are identical
with those of Veragua. David in his will left 3,000 quintals
of Indian gold to Solomon, to assist in building the temple,
and according to Josephus it came from these lands."

He decided therefore to leave the Adelantado with eighty
men to found a colony; he would return to Spain for rein-
forcements. Santo Domingo which he had discovered and
settled had been given to his enemies. The king refused to
recognize his title to the pearl coast. Cheated of his other
possession, he would begin again and create a new vice-
royalty.

Work was begun at once. A few thatch cottages were
built on a little eminence near the mouth of the Rio Belen.
One of the four caravels, stocked with provisions, was to
be left to the colonists. Bananas, cocoanuts, plantains and
other fruit grew in abundance. The river and sea were full
of fish. There appeared to be no danger of famine. The
Indians were friendly.

When these arrangements had been completed, a new
obstacle arose. The dry season had set in and the river had
fallen to such an extent that he could not get the three
caravels out across the bar at the mouth of the river. He was
forced to wait until a rain would cause a new freshet.

Meanwhile Diego Mendez, one of the most daring and
venturesome of these adventurers, began to suspect that
Quiban, the Indian chief, was plotting their destruction.
Whether or not there was any foundation for this suspicion
it is now impossible to determine. Mendez seems to have
persuaded the Adelantado without much trouble; it was
harder to convince Columbus of such treachery. But at last

142 PANAMA

it was decided to strike before the Indians had matured their
plot, and on the 30th of March, Bartholomew Columbus took
the warpath with seventy-five men. They approached
Quiban village without being discovered. The main body
remained hidden in the woods, with instructions to rush out
as soon as they heard an arquebuse. They were to try to
capture as many prisoners as possible.

The Adelantado, having stationed his men thus, entered
the village with Mendez and four others. Quiban came out
of his house and greeted them courteously. After a mo-
ment's conversation the Adelantado gave the signal, Mendez
fired his arquebuse and they all fell on the Cacique. While
they were tying him up the main force hurried up and cap-
tured about fifty people, old and young, women and children
and half a dozen of the elders of the tribe. The Indians were
completely taken by surprise and were overpowered without
bloodshed.

The prisoners were bundled into the boats to be taken to
the ships as hostages and eventually sold as slaves. Quiban
was especially entrusted to the care of one Juan Sanchez,
who swore that if the Cacique escaped they might pluck out
his beard, hair by hair. However, the Cacique did escape.
He worked some of his bonds loose and dove overboard,
preferring the society of the sharks to that of the Spaniards.
Whether or not Sanchez lost his beard is not recorded. The
Adelantado's loot was considerably over $1,000 worth of
gold.

The Spaniards hoped that this "lesson" would strike
terror into the hearts of the natives. They believed that
Quiban was dead, but even if, tied hand and foot, he had
managed to swim safe to shore, they thought that knowing
that all his family were held as hostages would discourage
any plan of revenge.

A fortunate freshet lifted the three caravels over the bar

TEE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 143

and Columbus, taking leave of his brother and the little
colony, started on the long voyage home. But adverse winds,
soon growing to a gale, forced him to anchor just outside the
river's mouth. On the 6th of April he sent in a small boat,
under the command of Diego Tristan, to get some fresh water.
Tristan never returned.

Quiban had not drowned. And once on shore he set about
for revenge in earnest. He gathered all his tribesmen and
allies, and within a few days after Columbus had left the
harbor, made an attack on the colony. The Indians crept
up under cover of the jungle which grew close to the settle-
ment. They rushed out, catching the colonists completely off
their guard. The Adelantado had his arms at hand and with
seven or eight men held the savages at bay until the rest of his
men could rally. With the aid of their bloodhounds, of which
the Indians were even more afraid than of firearms, they
repulsed this first attack. One Spaniard and a number of
Indians were killed.

Tristan arrived in his boat during the mele*e, but seems to
have taken no part in it. As soon as the Indians disappeared
in the woods, he proceeded up stream, against the orders
of the Adelantado, to fill his water casks. The river was
deep and narrow, overhung with trees. About a league above
the village, war whoops rang out from both shores, the woods
seemed to rain javelins. Canoes full of naked Indians darted
out at them from all sides. One man, Juan de Noya, a
cooper from Seville, dove for it and, being able to swim a
long distance under water, escaped to tell the tale.

The colony was completely disorganized. This sort of
warfare, eighty of them against myriads, was not the sort of
gold hunting they had bargained for. Above all they feared
that the Almirante would sail for Spain and leave them to
their fate. Defying the Adelantado they mutinously tried
to put to sea in their caravel. But the water had fallen

144 PANAMA

again and they could not get it across the bar. They tried
the small boats, but a gale was blowing in from the sea and
piling up an impassable surf on the bar.

The Indians, exulting over their massacre of Tristan's crew,
were blowing their conch shells in the forest preparing for a
new attack. The bodies of Tristan and his men came float-
ing down the river. About them circled and screamed and
fought a great cloud of vultures.

The fear which had at first driven them to mutiny now
drove the colonists back to discipline. The Adelantado was
about the only one with a cool head on his shoulders. Be-
lieving it impossible to hold the scattered houses of the
village, he changed his base to an open place on the beach.
There they erected a small fort of casks and boxes. They
took two falconets from the caravel. These little cannon
had a very wholesome effect on the Indians. And in this
new position the Spaniards had nothing to fear as long as
their ammunition and provisions held out.

Affairs had not been going any better aboard the caravels
in the offing. The hostages who had been captured in the
raid on Quiban's village had managed to break out of the
hold of the flagship and most of them jumped overboard
and had swam ashore. The few who were recaptured had
promptly strangled themselves. This not only knocked a
big hole in the expected profit of these slave dealers, but
Columbus rightly felt that the arrival of the hostages on
shore would make the Indians more determined on war than
ever. He became immensely worried as day after day
Tristan failed to return. He had only one small boat left
in the fleet and he did not dare to risk losing it in the pounding
surf on the bar.

At last a pilot named Pedro Ledesma, inspired by example
of the escaping Indians, volunteered to swim the surf.
"Surely," he said, "if they dare to venture so much to pro-

TEE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 145

cure their individual liberties, I ought to brave at least a part
of this danger to save the lives of so many comrades."

The small boat took him as near the surf as it dared.
Ledesma stripped and went overboard into the turmoil of
the surf, and won safe to shore. He found the little garrison
in sore straits and they were overjoyed to find that the
caravels had not yet sailed. Ledesma risked his life again
in the surf to take the sad news back to the Almirante.

It was indeed disspiriting news for Columbus. He could
spare no men to reenforce the garrison. There was no
alternative to giving up the colony. His own position was
by no means devoid of danger. Any moment his crazy little
ships might fall apart, so serious had been the attack of the
teredo. He was riding at anchor in a gale off a lee shore.
Any moment his frayed cables might part. His own sickness
wore heavily upon him. His mind seems to have weakened
under the strain. At least it was at this period that he had
the vision he so solemnly recounts in the "Lettera rarissima."

" Wearied and sighing," he wrote, "I fell into a slumber,
when I heard a piteous voice saying to me. 'Oh fool and
slow to believe and serve thy God, who is the God of all!
What did he more for Moses, or for his servant David, than
he has done for thee? . . . When he saw thee of fitting
age he made thy name to resound marvellously throughout
the earth. ... Of the gates of the ocean sea, shut up
with such mighty chains, he delivered to thee the keys; the
Indies, those wealthy regions of the world, he gave thee
for thine own, and empowered thee to dispose of them to
others, according to thy pleasure. What did he more for
the great people of Israel when he led them forth from
Egypt? . . . He has many and vast inheritances yet in
reserve. Fear not to seek them. Thine age shall be no
impediment for any great undertaking. Abraham was above
a hundred years when he begot Isaac. And was Sarah

146 PANAMA

youthful? . . . Who has afflicted thee so much and so
many times? God — or the world? The privileges and
promises which God hath made thee, he hath never broken;
neither hath he said, after having received thy services, that
his meaning was different and to be understood in another
sense. He performs to the very letter.' '

"I heard all this," Columbus adds, "as one almost dead,
and had no power to reply to words so true."

Irving writes in regard to this vision: "He is not to be
measured by the same standards with ordinary men. . . .
The artless manner in which, in his letter to his sovereigns,
he mingles up the rhapsodies and dreams of his imagination
with simple facts and sound practical observations, pouring
them forth with a kind of scriptural solemnity and poetry of
language, is one of the most striking illustrations of a char-
acter richly compounded of extraordinary and apparently
contradictory elements."

Justin Winsor, in his biography of Columbus, is not so kind.
He gives a rather ironical rendering of this portion of the
Admiral's letter and dismisses it summarily as either an
elaborate hoax intended to remind his sovereigns of their
broken promises and to frighten them into restoring his
honors or a plain case of paranoiac meglomania. It is prob-
able that King Ferdinand put the first of these interpreta-
tions on it.

Von Humboldt with probably a juster insight speaks of
this vision as showing the wreck of a proud mind broken
down by the weight of dead hopes.

Fair weather followed this vision. The Adelantado was
able to bring off all his men and most of his provisions in
small boats. They had to abandon the caravel. The
Admiral coasted eastward to the Gulf of San Bias, hoping to
get free of the currents. Here another ship went to pieces
and with the remnant of his men crowded on two flimsy

THE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 147

boats he steered north toward Santo Domingo and out of the
story of the Isthmus.

Desperate as had been his misfortunes along the coast of
Panama he had to face worse ones. Unable to reach Santo
Domingo, he had to run his sinking ships ashore on Jamaica.
There were months of waiting for rescue, and at last a neg-
lected death in Valladolid, Spain, on the 20th of May, 1506.

The historians of to-day are engaged in a bitter contro-
versy over the character of Columbus. Irving set the fashion
among modern writers of indiscriminate praise. Roselly de
Lorgues and a few ecstatic French writers are trying to
persuade the Roman Church to canonize him. Their praise
is even more fulsome than Irving's statement that "the
finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single
blemish in his moral character." They have gone to the
length of developing an elaborate argument, which lacks
nothing but substantiating facts, to prove that Columbus
married the mother of his son Fernando.

Henry Harrisse has given us much light on the subject by
his tireless collecting of original documents. The facts are
not at all as pleasing as the " canonizers" would desire. Dr.
Shea, an eminent Catholic historian, writes, "He seems to
have succeeded in attracting but few men to him, who ad-
hered loyally to his cause. Those under him were con-
stantly rebellious and mutinous; those over him found him
impracticable. To array all these as enemies, inspired by a
satanic hostility to a great servant of God, is to ask too
much for our belief."

Justin Winsor, one of the foremost of our historians, has
applied the modern critical method, the studying of original
documents, to Columbus. He brings forward strong evi-
dence of many unlovely characteristics. Winsor accuses him
of inordinate greed, shows that he had a penchant for slave
stealing that even Queen Isabella could not control, convicts

148 PANAMA

him of having at one time tried to force his crew to swear
to false statements about the land they had discovered.
Winsor certainly brings in overwhelming evidence of the
Admiral's appalling conceit. In his treatise on the prophets
Columbus wrote, " Human reason, mathematics and maps
have served me in no wise. What I have accomplished is
simply the fulfillment of the prophecy of David." This
overweaning vanity, this pretence of being the special envoy
from on High is, according to Winsor, the reason he was un-
able to keep any friends.

Winsor's long attack on the character of Columbus ends
with this paragraph :

" We have seen a pitiful man meet a pitiful death. Hardly
a name in profane history is more august than his. Hardly
another character in the world's record has made so little
of its opportunities. His discovery was a blunder, his
blunder a new world; the New World is his monument! Its
discoverer might have been its father; he proved its despoiler.
He might have given its young days such a benignity as the
world likes to associate with a maker; he left it a legacy of
devastation and crime. He might have been an unselfish
promoter of geographical science; he proved a rabid seeker
for gold and a vice-royalty. He might have won converts to
the cause of Christ by the kindness of his spirit; he gained
the execrations of the good angels. He might, like Las
Casas, have rebuked the fiendishness of his contemporaries;
he set them an example of perverted belief. The triumph of
Barcelona led down to the ignominy of Valladolid, with every
step in the degradation palpable and resultant."

Fortunately it is no more necessary to accept without
qualification this dark picture which Mr. Winsor draws than
to believe that the great voyager was a model of all the do-
mestic and ecclesiastical virtues as Irving and the "canon-
izers" would have us.

THE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 149

Columbus lived in an age when the vices, Mr. Winsor so
energetically denounces, were as common as freckles. And
the virtues, for the absence of which he denounces Columbus,
were just as rare as they are to-day. The cruelties charged
against Columbus were no worse than those of their most
Catholic majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, against the Moors.
He drove a sharp bargain with the throne and made himself
very unpleasant when deprived of what he thought was due
him. His famous lawsuits were just the kind we have to-day :
efforts to get what his friends called justice and his enemies
called graft. If he had been a more courteous loser he would
probably have lost less. The worst thing proved against him
is his lack of friends. There can, I think, be little doubt that
his character was unpleasant. But we of this latter day,
who do not have to serve in one of his caravel, nor listen to
the flow of his petulant temper, are free to give him in ad-
miration what he so sadly lacked in affection.

The wisest word I have found in this controversy is in
the preface of John Fiske's "The Discovery of America."

"No one can deny," he writes, "that Las Casas was a
keen judge of men, or that his standard of right and wrong
was quite as lofty as anyone has reached in our own time.
He had a much more intimate knowledge of Columbus than
any modern historian can hope to acquire, and he always
speaks of him with warm admiration and respect. But how
could Las Casas ever have respected the feeble, mean-
spirited driveller whose portrait Mr. Winsor asks us to accept
as that of the discoverer of America?"

CHAPTER XI

THE FIRST COLONISTS

THE reports which Columbus brought home from his last
voyage, his stories of rich goldfields, won for the Isthmus
the glittering name of Castilla del Oro. Expeditions to
Nueva Andalucfa, as the north coast of South America was
called, came home with even richer cargoes. Cristoval
Guerra and Pedro Alonzo Nino returned in 1500, "so laden
with pearls," according to an old chronicler, "that they
were in a maner with every mariner as common as chaff e."

Yet many years passed before any serious effort was
made to colonize the Mainland. The Spanish king had his
hands more than full with domestic wars. Not until 1508
did the matter force itself on the attention of the Council
of the Indies.

Herrera, the official historian of the Court, writes (trans-
lation of Capt. John Stevens, 1725): "The king was very
intent upon having Colonies settled there, and none was so
ready to perform it as Alonso de Ojeda, but he not being
rich, could not contract with the King, unless supported by
some other. John de la Cosa offer'd to be assisting with his
Estate, and accordingly went to Court, relying on the Favour
of John Rodriquez de Fonseca, Bishop of Palencia, who had
Management of the Affairs of the Indies and was a Friend
to Alonso de Ojeda."

It would have been difficult for His Catholic Majesty to
put finger on a man more fitted for New World adventure
than this same Alonso de Ojeda. He had been born in
Cuenca, of the inevitably poor but honest parents. He had

150

CHEPIGANA.

EL REAL DE STA. MARIA.

THE FIEST COLONISTS 151

served as a page, then as an esquire in the retinue of the
Duke of Medina Celi. Under the tutelage of this flower of
Spanish nobility he had been through the bitterest cam-
paigns of the Moorish wars. He was short and stocky, but
graceful; he excelled in the arts of chivalric wars. He was
said not to be good to look at, but men adored him. When
twenty-one he had sailed with Columbus on his second voy-
age. He had been a member of a later expedition along the
coast of Nueva Andalucfa. and had lived some years in the
Indies.

Besides his own experience, and as a counterbalance to
his always empty purse, he had a wealth of friends. It was
his good fortune, as Herrera says, to have for friend the great
Bishop of Palencia, who was supreme in the Council of the
Indies.

But undoubtedly his greatest asset was the loyalty of the
old pilot Juan de la Cosa. Peter Martyr, one of the most
trustworthy of the contemporaneous chroniclers of the Dis-
covery, says that the navigators of the day valued above all
other maps those made by de la Cosa — "to whom these
tracks were as well known as the chambers of his own
house." He had sailed more miles in the Caribbean Sea
than even the great Almirante. He had a sagacious head
and the quiet sort of bravery which was badly needed to
balance the dashing impetuosity of Ojeda. And he loved
the younger man with a fidelity such as is seldom recounted
in the stories of those days. If the king had been making
a selection solely on merit, he could not have done better
than to choose this team.

But there was another applicant for the honor of colonizing
the Mainland — Don Diego de Nicuesa. He had the ad-
vantage over Ojeda of being not only much richer but also
the more polished. He held the high courtly office of Royal
Carver. He wore some of the smartest clothes ever seen in

152 PANAMA

Madrid. But in spite of his dandified manners and his
popularity with the ladies-in-waiting, he was a gentleman of
unquestioned integrity and valor. But he had had no spe-
cial schooling for the bitter hard work in hand. There is
not much of good which can be said of Nicuesa. Above all,
he was a stubborn fool, but he was not white-livered or he
would never have sought to lay aside the Royal Carving
Knife for the sword of the conqueror.

For a long time Merit and Favoritism balanced each other
in the mind of the king. Being able to make no choice, he
appointed them both. Nicuesa was to govern the Castilla
del Oro from Cape Gracios a Dios to the border of Nueva
Andalucia. Ojeda was given Nueva Andalucfa from Cape
de la Vela to the domains of Nicuesa. The dividing line
between their jurisdictions the wise king left for them to
fight out.

In the fall of 1509, the two governors met in Santo Dom-
ingo and began the quarrel. The king had further compli-
cated matters for them, by giving them as a joint source of
provisions the Island of Jamaica. This embroiled them at
once with Diego Columbus, the son of the Admiral, who was
governor of Santo Domingo and laid claim to all lands dis-
covered by his father. There could be no question that
Jamaica was legally his. To have it given away to others
made him so hostile to the interlopers that instead of help-
ing them with ships and men, as the king had ordered, he
did all he could to embarrass them. Of course the obvious
thing was to fan the fire of jealousy between the two gov-
ernors.

Alonso de Ojeda soon lost his head and challenged his
rival to a duel. However, Juan de la Cosa was able to avert
bloodshed and under his mediation they agreed to accept
the Darien River, now called the Atrato, as the boundary
between their provinces.

THE FIEST COLONISTS 153

But the peace between them was precarious. Nicuesa,
having the more ready money, was able to outbid his rival
for ships and equipment. Two things counterbalanced this
advantage. First of all Ojeda's experience in those parts,
his reputation and personal charm attracted to his standard
the pick of the volunteers. Among them were two who
were later to paint their names in great letters of blood and
fire on the chronicle of fame, Hernado Cortes and Francisco
Pizarro. At the last moment he won a new ally in the per-
son of the Bachelor of Law, Martin Fernandez de Enciso.
This clever attorney had amassed a fortune of over ten thou-
sand dollars in a few years of colonial practice. But he had
not realized the fact that it is easier to get money from
adventurers than by adventures. In an evil day he began
to listen to the alluring tales of Ojeda. Like so many an-
other he fell under the man's charm. Under the promise of
being made " Alcalde Mayor " — chief justice — of the to-be-
conquered vice-royalty of Nueva Andalucia, he turned his
bankbook over to Ojeda.

On the 12th of November, 1509, Ojeda sailed from Santo
Domingo, with two ships, two brigantines, three hundred
men and twelve brood-mares. At the last moment Hernando
Cortes was disabled by a wounded knee and was unable to
accompany them. A few days later Nicuesa set out with
two large ships, two brigantines, a caravel, seven hundred
men and six horses. His was by far the more brilliant
company, but they were mostly fresh from Spain, less
hardened for the work before them than his rival's com-
panions.

It was a remarkable group of men, these discoverers and
conquistadores. They were a strong breed, whom Irving
calls the " chivalry of the sea." The old feudal manner of
life was breaking down in Europe — the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain had been the last great crusade. These

154 PANAMA

men who came over to the New World were the remnant of
the feudal nobility. We are wont to think of them as pio-
neers— progressives. They were apostles of an old and dying
regime. To a romancer like Washington Irving the word
" chivalry" conjured up a gorgeous tapestry, woven of brave
deeds, and many heroic virtues. To the modern student of
history the word means an epoch when famine and plague
stalked unchecked over Europe, when brute passion, un-
refined by any shade of culture, ruled those in high places,
when shameless cruelty was the daily commonplace. It was
an age of Inquisitions and of trial by tortures. When the
finest ladies of Madrid enjoyed the "divertissement" of an
auto de fe. An era, the passing of which no sane man could
regret. These empire-founders, compared to the great men
of the dawning Renaissance, were black reactionaries. Their
day had passed at home; to the west they brought all the old
barbaric morality of medievalism, all the religious intoler-
ance of the Dark Ages. The one man who stands out in the
early history of America as touched with the new Humanism
which was illuminating Europe — Las Casas — was stoned by
the conquistadores.

These men who sailed from Santo Domingo four centuries
ago were of a type hard to sympathize with to-day. Bloody
from their infernal massacres they gave fanatical thanks to
the Holy Virgin. With stolen gold, the prize of rapine and
slaughter, they adorned the Crucifix. From silver, dug by
the defenceless women and children whom they scourged
down into their deadly mines, they hammered out magnifi-
cent vessels for the service of the Mass. They wore some
fair lady's gage on their helmets, and committed the vilest
outrages on women. They were insanely courageous, and
afraid of the dark. They were never daunted by real diffi-
culties, they trembled before the croaking of a fortune-teller.
They were more often defeated by their own petty jealousies,

TEE FIRST COLONISTS 155

or the treachery of trusted comrades, than by the innumer-
able enemy.

All these contradictory elements seem to have focused in
Alonso de Ojeda. The Bishop of Palencia had given him a
miraculous portrait of the Virgin. He carried it in the belief
that it made him invulnerable. It is only the united voices
of many witnesses which make it possible to believe that he
actually lived through the innumerable adventures which
make up his biography. But we have here to do only with
that chapter of his life which affected the Isthmus.

In due time his little fleet touched the mainland — his as
yet unconquered vice-royalty — near the present city of
Carthagena, in Colombia. He went ashore with part of
his force and at once set about establishing his authority.
There was the ordinary formality of waving the Spanish
flag, erecting a cross and so forth. The few white men
who had previously visited this coast had come to trade.
The Indians crowded down on the shore with hospitable
intention. Having satisfied his own idea of taking posses-
sion, Ojeda turned his attention to the natives. He ordered
some of his friars, who had come to look after the spiritual
welfare of the new domains, to read aloud the following
proclamation. This curious treatise had been drawn up by
learned divines at home and with slight alterations was
employed by the other conquistadores under similar circum-
stances :

"I, Alonso de Ojeda, servant of the high and mighty
kings of Castile and Leon, civilizers of barbarous nations,
their messenger and captain, notify and make known to
you, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, one and
eternal, created the heavens and earth, and one man and
one woman, from whom you, and we, and all the people of
the earth, were and are descendants, procreated, and all
those who shall come after us; but the vast number of gen-

156 PANAMA

erations which have proceeded from them in the course of
more than five thousand years that have elapsed since the
creation of the world, made it necessary that some of the
human race should disperse in one direction, and some in
another, and that they should divide themselves into many
kingdoms and provinces, as they could not sustain and
preserve themselves in one alone. All these people were
given in charge, by God our Lord, to one person, named
Saint Peter, who was thus made lord and superior of all the
people of the earth, and head of the whole human lineage;
whom all should obey, wherever they might live, and what-
ever might be their law, sect, or belief; he gave him also the
whole world for his service and jurisdiction; and though he
desired that he should establish his chair in Rome, yet he per-
mitted that he might establish his chair in any other part of
the world, and judge and govern all the nations, Christians,
Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and whatever other sect or belief
might be. This person was denominated Pope, that is to
say, Admirable, Supreme, Father and Guardian, because he
is father and governor of all mankind. This holy father was
obeyed and honored as lord, king, and superior of the uni-
verse by those who lived in his time, and, in like manner,
have been obeyed and honored all those who have been
elected to the pontificate; and thus it has continued unto
the present day, and will continue until the end of the world.
"One of these pontiffs, of whom I have spoken, as lord
of the world, made a donation of these islands and conti-
nents of the ocean sea, and all that they contain, to the
Catholic kings of Castile, who, at that time, were Ferdinand
and Isabella, of glorious memory, and to their successors,
our sovereigns, according to the tenor of certain papers,
drawn up for the purpose (which you may see if you desire).
Thus his majesty is king and sovereign of these islands and
continents by virtue of the said donation, and, as king and

THE FIEST COLONISTS 157

sovereign, certain islands, and almost all, to whom this has
been notified, have received his majesty, and have obeyed
and served, and do actually serve him. And, moreover, like
good subjects, and with good will, and without any resistance
or delay, the moment they were informed of the foregoing,
they obeyed all the religious men sent among them to preach
and teach our holy faith; and these of their free and cheer-
ful will, without any condition or reward, became Chris-
tians, and continue so to be. And his majesty received
them kindly and benignantly, and ordered that they should
be treated like his other subjects and vassals. You also
are required and obliged to do the same. Therefore, in the
best manner I can, I pray and entreat you, that you consider
well what I have said, and that you take whatever time is
reasonable to understand and deliberate upon it, and that
you recognize the church for sovereign and superior of the
universal world, and the supreme pontiff, called Pope, in
her name, and his majesty, in his place, as superior and
sovereign king of the islands and terra firma by virtue of
said donation; and that you consent that these religious
fathers declare and preach to you the foregoing: and if
you shall so do, you will do well, and will do that to which
your are bounden and obliged; and his majesty, and I, in
his name, will receive you with all due love and charity;
and will leave you your wives and children free from servi-
tude, that you may freely do with them and with yourselves
whatever you please and think proper, as have done the
inhabitants of the other islands. And, besides this, his
majesty will give you many privileges and exemptions, and
grant you many favors. If you do not do this, or wickedly
and intentionally delay to do so, I certify to you that, by
the aid of God, I will forcibly invade and make war upon
you in all parts and modes that I can, and will subdue you
to the yoke and obedience of the church and of his majesty;

158 PANAMA

and I will take your wives and children and make slaves of
them, and sell them as such, and dispose of them as his
majesty may command; and I will take your effects, and
will do you all the harm and injury in my power, as vassals
who will not obey or receive their sovereign and who resist
and oppose him. And I protest that the deaths and disas-
ters, which may in this manner be occasioned, will be the
fault of yourselves, and not of his majesty, nor of me, nor
of the cavaliers who accompany me. And of what I tell
you and require of you, I call upon the notary here present
to give me his signed testimonial."

How much the natives understood of these ponderously
intoned Spanish sentences, we do not know. But the gist of
it seems to have been made plain to them, for the accounts
say that they replied with great dignity that they were satis-
fied with their own chiefs and were entirely ready to protect
their wives and children.

The Spaniards made short work of them on the open
beach — but they had not yet learned the danger of follow-
ing the natives into the jungle. Nor had they learned the
horror of poisoned arrow. Juan de la Cosa urged Ojeda
to be content with his victory and to postpone further
fighting until they had found a suitable place for their
settlement and had established themselves. But it was
not Ojeda's nature to be cautious. He gave the order for
pursuit. They came in an hour or so to a large Indian
village. In a moment they had scattered in quest of booty.
And then the natives fell upon them. They were off their
guard and most of them fell during the first surprise. Juan
de la Cosa rallied a few of them and made a desperate re-
sistance. Only one of this group escaped. Ojeda also with
his marvellous luck got away into the jungle. But sepa-
rated from his men he went astray. Without food and in
constant danger of discovery he struggled through the dense

TEE FIRST COLONISTS 159

underbrush. With his last strength he reached the seaside.
And there his men found him in an almost dying condition.
The sailors left on shipboard had become desperate at the
long absence of the landing party. Just when things were
at their darkest some sails came up over the horizon — it
was the fleet of Nicuesa.

The two governors had parted in anger, and Ojeda feared
that his rival would take advantage of his distress. But
Nicuesa — it is the one really noble incident related about
him — sent word that "A Spanish hidalgo does not harbor
malice against a prostrate foe." He turned aside from his
own errand to land a party and help Ojeda wreak a bloody
vengeance for the death of Juan de la Cosa. They surprised
the Indians, who were feasting in their village, in celebration
of their victory, and massacred them to the last child. The
blood lust of the Spaniards was whetted by the sight of the
corpse of de la Cosa, horribly bloated and discolored as a result
of the poisoned arrows. Incidentally the share of Nicuesa's
men in the booty was over thirty-five thousand dollars.

Ojeda sailed on to the Gulf of Darien, the western boun-
dary of his province, and disembarked on the eastern shore.
In memory of Juan de la Cosa and as a protective charm
he named the place San Sebastien, after the saint who died
from arrow wounds. It was the first European settlement
on the American continent. He despatched his fastest
ship back to Santo Domingo, with booty already won and
glowing letters to the bachelor Enciso, urging him to hurry
along with his law book, and the needed reinforcements and
provisions.

After separating from Ojeda, Nicuesa sailed on westward
in search of the Aurea Chersoneus he had come to govern.
The booty had already been rich; from Columbus's account
of the gold of the Rio Veragua, he had every reason to ex-
pect even fatter pluckings.

160 PANAMA

When he picked up the coast of the Isthmus, he ordered
his two large ships to stand well out to sea. Lope de Olano,
his second in command, was to keep in sight of him in the
brigantine, while he in the little caravel would scout in
close to shore. They passed the Veragua by mistake.
Some of the sailors who had skirted the coast with Colum-
bus seven years before discovered the error. They urged him
to turn back. But with the cock-sure pigheadedness which
was his salient characteristic he pushed on.

A sudden storm, for which the coast is famous, caused
the ships to tack out, away from the lea shore. Nicuesa, in
his little cockle-shell boat, had to seek shelter in the cove
made by a river's mouth. A sudden freshet wrecked the
caravel. With great difficulty the company won safe to
shore, in the long boat, but without provisions. In the
morning Lope de Olano and his brigantine were nowhere to
be seen. For awhile the little company waited on the beach
for rescue. But Lope de Olano did not come for them. As
the same gentleman had been one of the mutineers against
Columbus, in the Rebellion of Santo Domingo, he has gen-
erally been accused of deliberately deserting Nicuesa, in the
hope of inheriting his governorship. Whatever his motives
were, he rejoined the ships after the storm, told the company
that the caravel had been lost with all on board.

Nicuesa and the crew of the caravel found themselves in
an exceedingly precarious position. They had no resources
beyond those which the jungle and the sea offered them.
They had no means of communication but the long boat.
With a persistence worthy of a better cause Nicuesa in-
sisted on pushing westward. The sailors, who knew they
had passed the Rio Veragua — which had been agreed upon
as a rendezvous in case of separation — urged him to turn
back. But whatever his shortcomings, Nicuesa was a com-
mander who commanded. And he marched his company

TEE FIEST COLONISTS 161

westward along the beach. Four men in the long boat
rowed along close inshore and ferried them across the in-
numerable streams which empty into the sea.

It was desperately slow progress, desperately scant fare,
nothing but sea food and occasional cocoanuts. The silk
raiment of the noble cavaliers was not built for such work.
Nor were many of the men prepared for it.

One day as they were passing along under a high cliff a
javelin hummed down from the overhanging trees. It
pierced the heart of Nicuesa's little page. The lad's white
satin jacket, frayed as it was by the thorns, soiled by the
mud of the rivers, had proved a good mark for the Indian.
But beyond this they were not attacked — they met no other
sign of man.

One evening they came to a large river, just before sun-
down. There was hardly time to ferry them across before
the darkness. In the morning the long boat had disap-
peared. Their situation was made more desperate by the
fact that they were not on the mainland, but on a delta of
the river. Marooned on this island, without provisions,
entirely dependent on shell-fish for food and on uncertain
pools of rain-water for drink, most of them gave up hope.
Nicuesa seems to have proved himself a brave man.
He did what could be done to keep up their spirits. Three
different times he persuaded them to build a raft, but they
had no tools, no nails. Each time the surf smashed their
flimsy floats to pieces.

"There they continued a long time," Herrera writes,
"some say above three months. Some of them dying daily
through drinking brackish water; those that remained alive
crawling about on all four, as not having Strength to walk."

But the long boat had not foundered at sea, nor were
Ribero, the boatswain, and his three companions guilty of
malicious desertion. They knew the coast, knew that Nicu-

162 PANAMA

esa was leading his followers every day farther from help
and hope. So, taking things in their own hands, they
slipped away during the night to see if they could bring a
rescue.

Lope de Olano, when he had assumed command of the
main force of the expedition, had led them to the Rio
Belen. They started a new settlement on the spot where
Columbus and his brother Bartholomew had tried to found
one seven years before. After incredible hardships, Ribero
and his comrades found the encampment. Lope de Olano
may not have welcomed the news that his governor was still
alive, but he at once despatched the brigantine to the
rescue.

It arrived just in time. Nicuesa and the remnant of his
company were too weakened to signal from the shore.
They had watched so long for a sail in vain that they could
hardly believe it, when they were carried on board and
fed. >

Nicuesa's first act on rejoining his colony was to order
the imprisonment of Lope de Olano. Only the intercession
of all the company saved his head. Once more in the sad-
dle, Nicuesa rode hard. His arrogance returned, his un-
popularity grew rapidly. In this unformed colony he tried
to rule like a great monarch of an established kingdom.

Quiban, the native chieftain, who had discomforted Bar-
tholomew Columbus, was still lord of the coast. But he
had discovered that famine was a surer weapon that his
arrows. He had gathered his people together; they had
rooted up all their plantations and had moved inland. The
Spaniards very soon had to give up looking for gold. They
needed food.

"All those People being in such Distress, to add to it
Nicuessa grew daily worse condition'd, and treated those
few who remain'd very harshly."

THE FIEST COLONISTS 163

At last sickness and hunger forced them to give up the
colony. They set sail in the hope of finding a kinder spot
for their enterprise. As they coasted along eastward, one
of the old sailors of Columbus's crew told them of the
beautiful Puerto Bello and generous supply of cool springs.
He guided the fleet thither — half buried in the sand they saw
an anchor which had been left by the Great Admiral. But
when a party went ashore to fill their water casks they were
attacked by Indians. The Spaniards were so weak from
exposure and hunger that they could not wield their heavy
weapons and were driven back to their boats. Not six
months had passed since they had sailed so blithely from
Santo Domingo to win and rule a kingdom. Now these
old veterans of the Moorish wars had to retreat before a
handful of naked savages.

A little farther down the coast they came to a fair haven.
They had hardly enough strength left to navigate.

"Paremos aquf en el nombre de Dios!" (Let us stop here
in the name of God), Nicuesa exclaimed.

The superstitious sailors accepted his words as an omen;
they disembarked, calling the place "Name of God."

But even the magic of so great a name did not improve
their condition. With their last energy they built a little
fort. Then once more disease and hunger sat down among
them.

Nicuesa had left a few men at the Rio Belen to await the
ripening of some corn. The party he sent to bring them to
Nombre de Dios found them so reduced by starvation, that
they were eating leather. His united forces mustered but
one hundred. Six hundred had already perished.

"Nicuessa and those few who remain' d with him were
reduc'd to such Distress by Sickness and Famine, that not
one of them was able to watch or stand Sentinel at Night,
and thus they wasted away."

164 PANAMA

Meanwhile the rival colony in Nueva Andalucfa, was
faring little better. The little town of San Sebastien did
not at first suffer so much from hunger. Their scourge was
the poison, with which the natives tipped their arrows.
So deadly was the venom that the slightest scratch meant
a horrible death. Herrera gives interesting details as to
the method of its manufacture:

"This Poison was made with certain stinking grey Roots
found along the Sea Coast, and being Burnt in Earthen
Pipkins, they made a Paste with a sort of very black Pis-
mires, as big as Beetles, so poisonous, that if they happened
to bite a Man, it put him beside himself. They add to this
Composition large Spiders, and hairy Worms, as long as half
a Man's Finger, the Bite of which is as bad as that of the
Pismires above mentioned, as also the Wings of a Bat
and the Head and Tail of a Sea Fish called Tavorino, very
venomous: besides Toads, the Tails of Snakes, and Man-
ganillas, which are like beautiful Apples, but a deadly
Poison. All these ingredients being set over a great Fire,
in an open Field, remote from their towns, were boil'd in
Pots, by a Slave, till they came to the proper Consistence
and the Person that look'd to it dy'd of the Steam."

This receipt was probably the work of someone's imagina-
tion, but it shows vividly how fearfully the Spaniards re-
garded these poisoned arrows.

If the Bachelor Enciso had hurried with his reinforce-
ments, San Sebastien might have won the distinction of
enduring. But for some reason he delayed. Provisions
began to run low. No more booty was to be found close
by. And in the depths of the jungle the poisoned arrows
reaped too deadly a harvest to make forays popular with
the men. So efficacious had been Ojeda's picture of the
Virgin, that as yet he had never lost blood in battle. So
extraordinary had been his luck — for he never spared him-

THE FIRST COLONISTS 165

self, was always in the front of the fight — that the Indians
began also to believe that his life was charmed.

In order to test his vulnerability they set a trap for him.
Four of their best marksmen hid in the trees, while their
comrades made an attack on the colony. As was always his
custom, Ojeda led the sortie. The wily savages retreated
and the governor followed them into the ambush. Three of
the arrows missed him, but one drove clear through his
thigh.

The colony was thrown into despair by this wound. It
seemed that the Virgin had withdrawn her protection. In
all their stay in the New World they had never seen one of
their company recover from an arrow wound. But Ojeda
was not the kind to despair, even when the Fates seemed
to have decreed his death. One of the symptoms of the
poisoning was a feeling of icy numbness about the wound.
This suggested a heroic remedy to the governor. He or-
dered his surgeon to heat two iron plates to the point of
redness and clap them on the two orifices of the wound.
Only under the threat of immediate hanging could the sur-
geon be persuaded to apply so stringent a medicine. Ojeda
stood the ordeal without flinching — and recovered! Cer-
tain modern historians, with the skepticism of their tribe,
suggest that perhaps this particular arrow was not poisoned.
But whether or not so painful a remedy was necessary there
is no doubt that it was applied.

After this accident — Ojeda was a long time recovering
from the burns — the colony lost heart. The natives pressed
so close to the fort that even the excursions for fresh water
became dangerous. Famine came to them as it had to
Nicuesa and his following.

At last a ship was seen approaching. The fainting col-
onists were cheered by the thought that it was the Bachelor
Enciso. But once more they were to be disappointed.

166 PANAMA

The brigantine turned out to be in the hands of a band
of pirates, under the command of a dare-devil adventurer
named Tolavera. When the brigantine, which Ojeda had
despatched from San Sebastien, laden with the first spoils
from his new province, reached Santo Domingo, every one
who had not accompanied him cursed their luck, cursed the
prudence which had kept them from joining him. Tolavera
collected a gang of cut-throats from the taverns of the water
front, marched them overland to a little cove where a
Genoese brigantine was taking on lumber. They murdered
the crew and set sail to join Ojeda.

The small stock of provisions which they had brought
relieved the immediate famine at San Sebastien but did
not permanently strengthen their position. And when the
pirates saw the ill condition of affairs, they decided that they
would be better off in Santo Domingo, taking a chance at
hanging for their piracy, rather than stay in Nueva Anda-
lucia to die of hunger or poisoned arrows.

Ojeda decided to sail with them and see what he could do
to hurry up reinforcements. He left what was left of his
forces under the command of Francisco Pizarro, with in-
structions to hold on for fifty days. If in that time no word
had been received either from him or Enciso, they could give
up the colony and retreat to Santo Domingo in the two
brigantines. The two ships had gone to pieces under the
attack of the " Teredos."

Ojeda, taking with him all the gold he had collected,
embarked with Tolavera. This debonaire pirate was no
sooner out of sight of land than he put the unfortunate
governor in chains and appropriated the treasure. Ojeda
offered to fight the whole ship's company if they would come
at him two at a time. But they had not the courage to
accept his challenge. And besides they were poor sailors
and had had trouble navigating their ship and thought it

THE FIEST COLONISTS 167

well to keep at least one able seaman alive. In fact, they
shortly ran into a hurricane and had to release him so that
he could save the ship. They were in time wrecked on the
shore of Cuba, as yet an unconquered island. For months
they lived among the Indians amid great dangers and hard-
ships. When they finally reached Santo Domingo, Ojeda
was unjustly thrown into prison.

"He died," Irving writes, "so poor that he did not leave
money enough to pay for his interment; and so broken in
spirit that, with his last breath, he entreated his body might
be buried in the monastery of San Francisco, just at the
portal, in humble expiation of his past pride, 'that every
one who entered might tread upon his grave/

"Such was the fate of Alonso de Ojeda — and who does
not forget his errors and his faults at the threshold of his
humble and untimely grave! He was one of the most fear-
less and aspiring of the band of 'Ocean chivalry' that fol-
lowed the footsteps of Columbus. His story presents a
lively picture of the daring enterprises, the extravagant
exploits, the thousand accidents, by flood and field, which
checkered the life of a Spanish cavalier in that roving and
romantic age."

After Ojeda had left them, the colonists of San Sebastian
continued their desperate struggle with famine and poisoned
arrows. They held on grimly — Francisco Pizarro, their
commander, owed his ultimate fame to this bull-dog ability
to hang on — until the fifty days were up. No help had
come. But an unlocked for obstacle prevented them from
sailing at once. Out of the three hundred who had sailed
from Santo Domingo, seventy were still alive. The two
brigantines would not hold so many. None would consent
to stay behind in the death-ridden place, so they had to
wait "until famine, sickness, and the poisoned arrows of
the Indians should reduce their number to the capacity of

168 PANAMA

the brigantines." And Irving laconically continues: "A
brief space of time was sufficient for the purpose." They
killed and salted down the four horses which were left to
them, and gathering up what meagre provisions they could
find, embarked. Pizarro commanded one of the brigantines,
Valenzuela the other.

Outside of the port they at once encountered a storm.
Valenzuela's boat suddenly fell apart and all hands were
lost.

To quote again from Irving's picturesque narrative:
"The other brigantine was so near, that the mariners wit-
nessed the struggles of their drowning companions, and
heard their cries. Some of the sailors, with the common
disposition to the marvellous, declared that they beheld a
great whale, or other monster of the deep, strike the vessel
with its tail, and either stave in its sides or shatter the
rudder, so as to cause the ship-wreck."

And so Pizarro with about thirty men, pitching about on
the storm-swept sea in a crazy, worm-eaten vessel, and
Nicuesa with his hundred starving, despairing men at
Nombre de Dios, were all that was left of the two brave
companies which set out to colonize the Mainland.

CHAPTER XII

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DARIEN

JUST about the time when the remnant of Ojeda's colony
were deserting San Sebastien, the Bachelor Enciso, having
completed his equipment, sailed from Santo Domingo. His
ship was well laden with provisions and carried one hundred
and fifty men. They took with them a dozen mares, "some
horses, sows, with boars to breed."

He touched first at Carthagena and, despite the massacre
committed there by the joint forces of Ojeda and Nicuesa, was
able to establish friendly relations with the natives. In the
very few instances, like this one, where the Spaniards did
not precipitate a fight, the Indians proved ready to receive
them as friends. But as a rule the white men found it easier
to get the gold ornaments from dead bodies, than by trade.

As Enciso was getting up anchor to sail westward to San
Sebastien, where he expected to find Ojeda and a thriving
town, he was surprised to see a brigantine entering the
harbor. The sight of a European sail in these waters was
indeed unusual. But his surprise turned to anger when he
discovered that the newcomers were men of Ojeda's com-
pany. With his legal and suspicious mind he jumped at
the conclusion that they were deserters and prepared to
begin his career as Chief Justice of Nueva Andalucia by
putting them in chains. But the captain of this gaunt and
hungry crew, Francisco Pizarro, was not a man to be brow-
beaten. He produced his commission signed by Ojeda.

What the shock to the Bachelor's hopes their story must
169

170 PANAMA

have been is easily imagined. More than fifty days had
passed since Ojeda had sailed from San Sebastien. Nothing
but some tragic misfortune could explain the fact that he
had not reached Santo Domingo before Enciso sailed.
Having come out to give laws to a prosperous community,
the Bachelor found there was nothing to rule except what
he might be able to conquer.

Pizarro's little band wanted to return at once to Santo
Domingo; they had had more than enough of hardship. But
the Bachelor exerted his authority; he would at least have a
look at the place he had come to govern.

Of all the localities in the New World which proved un-
lucky to the Spaniards, that of San Sebastien proved the
worst. As they entered the harbor, Enciso's ship struck
a rock and went to pieces. The company escaped ashore,
but, in the words of Irving, "the unfortunate Bachelor
beheld the proceeds of several years of prosperous litigation
swallowed up in an instant.

"His dream of place and dignity seemed equally on the
point of vanishing; for, on landing, he found the fortress and
its adjacent houses mere heaps of ruins, having been de-
stroyed with fire by the Indians."

In this moment of general discouragement, a man, for
whom the Fates had arranged a great destiny, suddenly
came to the front.

"Once," he said, "when I coasted this gulf with Rodrigo
de Bastides, on the western shore we found the country
fertile and rich in gold. Provisions were abundant; and the
natives, although warlike, do not use poisoned arrows. It
lies just beyond the great river which the Indians called
Darien."

Momentous words these. They guided the Spaniards to
their first secure foothold on the Continent of America. They
were spoken by one of the least considered men of the crew,

Copyright by Underwood &• Under-wood.

INDIAN CAYUKAS ON THE CHUCUNAQUE RIVER.

SANTA MAEIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 171

one who was referred to derisively as "el hombre del casco,"
Vasco Nunez de Balboa.

At this time he was about thirty-five years old. Like most
of the Conquistadores, he had been molded in the school of
medieval chivalry. Born in Jerez de los Caballeros, he had
seen much service during the Moorish wars in the retinue
of Don Pedro Puertocarrero de Moguer. He had sought
adventure in the New World, sailing these very waters, with
Bastides in the famous voyage of 1500-1502. He had ac-
quired very little gold on that expedition, but it had won for
him greater wealth, a knowledge of the coast. It had pre-
pared him to seize this, his great opportunity.

After the voyage he had settled down in the colony of
Santo Domingo, buying a farm in the hamlet of Salvatierra.
But such was not the intention of his destiny; he failed
miserably at agriculture. Tired of the insistent din of his
creditors, hearing once more the call of the sea, he contrived
to get aboard Enciso's ship in a barrel.

"When, like Aphrodite, from her circling shell," — Ban-
croft's "Central America," — "the serio-comic face of the
bankrupt farmer appeared emerging from the provision cask,
the bachiller was disposed to treat the matter magisterially,
and threatened to land the refugee from justice on the first
deserted island."

However Enciso had not been able to recruit as many
men as he had hoped. Vasco Nunez was in the prime of
life, a hardy, experienced adventurer. So the Bachelor
forgot his threat. His unexpected recruit, however, did
not.

During the voyage "el hombre del casco" had conducted
himself modestly. Although the nickname had stuck to
him, the crew had learned not to use it insultingly. In his
quiet, diplomatic way he had earned the friendship of most
of them, the respect of the rest.

172 PANAMA

His suggestion to try the western shore of the Gulf of
Darien was accepted by acclamation. Enciso, leaving some
of his company in the hastily reconstructed stockade, crossed
over with all the men who could crowd into the brigantine.
The place to which Vasco Nunez guided them was in the
territory of the Cacique Cemaco. (The old English chron-
iclers write the name Cazique Zemaco. But the Spanish
"c" before "i" or "e" is more nearly rendered in English
by "th.")

Cemaco seems to have been a fine old character. He
never became reconciled to the conquest. For many years
to come he never allowed his desire for revenge to cool.
Again and again his name crops up in the old narratives.
When he saw the ship approaching he sent his non-combat-
ants up into the hills and met the invaders on the beach
with five hundred men.

Enciso had his notary read to the natives the same proc-
lamation which Ojeda had used. And having made himself
right in the eye of the law, he was equally scrupulously to
observe the religious formalities. Bancroft summarizes the
detailed accounts of the chroniclers in these words: "He
invokes the powers above, vows to the Virgin that this
heathen town shall be hers in name, if she will make it his in
substance; vows, if she will give it him, that with Cemaco's
gold he will build on Cemaco's land a church, and dedicate
the sacred edifice to her adored image, Antigua of Seville.
Moreover, he will make a pilgrimage to her holy shrine.
Virgen Santissima ! "

It is easy to poke fun at the religious formulas of these
Conquistadores, and it seems to me a rather cheap humor.
To them the formulas were not empty. This preposterous
proclamation, in which they command the natives to accept
the Pope, was not the concoction of the men who used it as
a prelude to their butcheries. It was the product of the

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DARIEN 173

divinity authorities of the day. The Pope's Bull in which
he gave half the unknown world to the Spaniards and half
to the Portuguese was taken seriously by the learned men
of the day. It is small wonder that these uncultivated
soldiers believed it to be binding.

We live in a day of easy tolerance. The Conquistadores
had been trained in the Moorish wars, where prisoners from
either side were given the choice between renouncing their
religion and dying. We may easily say that the superstitions
of those days were childish, but there is no ground for
believing them hypocritical. Alonso de Ojeda, whatever
his private vices, would have gone blithely to the stake,
rather than desecrate his picture of the Virgin.

The history of the Church is full of references to the heresy
of Antinomism. Saint Paul inveighed against it. There has
been hardly a decade since when the same heresy has not
cropped out in some sect. It is, in short, a belief that if
your spiritual relation to God is correct, you will be saved
no matter what your physical relations, your personal ethics
are. There was no age when this heresy was more generally
condemned and, as such things go, more generally practised.
Never has there been a greater divorce between Theology
and Morals. But just in proportion as the ethic of Christen-
dom became debauched, so sincere, fanatical devotion was
given to the forms of worship. Enciso and his men were
certainly bent on murder and rapine. But just as certainly
they would not have fought as valorously if they had not
first adored the Virgin. The Ironsides of England, chanting
a psalm as they went into action, were no more devout.

And thus forearmed, the Spaniards attacked with a fervor
which soon overthrew the enemy. They found rich booty
in Cemaco's village, which in accordance with their vow they
rechristened " Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien." In
a few days they had gathered, besides large quantities of food,

174 PANAMA

gold which amounted, according to living's estimate, to over
$50,000.

They despatched the brigantine to San Sebastien to bring
over the rest of their company to this El Dorado. The
Bachelor Enciso lost his head as soon as it was crowned with
prosperity. His mind was so befogged with legal lore, that
he thought it more important to draw up a code than to plant
corn. His enthusiasm for the intricate legal system of Spain
blinded his eyes to the patent fact that laws are made for
a community, and that the object of founding a colony was
not to create a new field for legislation. It would be hard
to imagine a body of men less likely to sympathize with his
respect for law. The results of putting new wine into old
bottles are mild indeed when compared to what happened
when this aspiring judge announced his fiscal regulations.
The colonists were not sufficiently civilized to allow him to
take by law what they had won by sweat and blood.

Once more Vasco Nunez stepped forward with a popular
suggestion. Caution was the most salient characteristic
of this man. There was none of the Conquist adores who
could more blithely burn his boats behind him in case of
need. But Balboa never did it recklessly. And especially
in the wily business of political intrigue he was loathe to
commit himself. He realized, as Bancroft says, that "law
is safer than hemp for hanging, even lawyers!" He could
easily have persuaded the colonists to dump Enciso into the
sea. He chose a subtler way.

When the malcontents grumbled about these bewildering
laws, Vasco Nunez would take them aside, and ask why they
submitted to Enciso's arrogance. " He was Alcalde Mayor
for Ojeda, in Nueva Andalucfa. We've crossed the Darien
River. This place is in Castilla del Oro, Nicuesa's territory.
Enciso hasn't a legal leg to stand on."

Vasco Nunez could truthfully say that he had obeyed all

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 175

of the Bachelor's laws; he had not rebelled. But the colonists
accepted his hint with a whoop. They refused to recognize
Enciso, and held elections. They chose for Alcaldes Vasco
Nunez and Martin Zamudio.

However, things went no more smoothly for the new gov-
ernment of Santa Maria than formerly. Vasco Nunez was
following a very definite policy. First of all he ingratiated
himself with the common soldiers. He was naturally fear-
less, he knew exactly when to be theatrical. He had remark-
able tact for smoothing out quarrels between individuals.
He was scrupulously just in divisions of the spoil. And
above all, he was tireless in providing for the comfort of his
men. The historian Oviedo, who always put the worst
construction on every act of Balboa, admits: "No chieftain
who ever went to the Indies equalled him in these respects. "

He was a master hand at intrigue. It was his policy to
stay behind the scenes in the political dissension which, even
more than the Indians, kept life in Santa Maria from becom-
ing monotonous. He accomplished his ends by discreetly
dropping a word or two where he knew it would be repeated.

In public his position was always correct. He sympathized
with the despoiled Enciso and advised him to take the colony
back to San Sebastien, knowing very well that the colony
would not go. Zamudio, his rival Alcalde, was a common
soldier. Vasco Nunez was hail fellow well met with him
and his kind. But he took pains to impress his rival's
humble birth on the strong men of the colony who were
pleased to consider themselves gentlemen. Apparently unin-
terested in political brawls — Balboa kept them at white heat.

In the middle of November, 1510, the people of Santa
Maria were surprised one morning to hear the sound of
cannons faintly rumbling across the water from San Sebas-
tien. They at once started great smudges of smoke to
attract attention. Perhaps it was Ojeda come back with

176 PANAMA

reinforcements. How the Bachelor's hopes must have soared
again!

It turned out to be Rodrigo Enriquez de Colmenares with
a relief expedition for Nicuesa. When he arrived off the
little settlement he was given a rousing welcome. With an
abundant grant of provisions, the old familiar foods they
had lacked so long, he established his popularity. Hearing
of their political dissensions, he urged them to accept Nicuesa
as their governor. Any change seemed good to the volatile
company, and they selected two ambassadors — Diego de
Albites and the Bachelor Corral — to accompany Colmenares
on his hunt for Nicuesa, to tender their allegiance and a
request that he should come and rule over them.

Colmenares cruised along westward and at Nombre de
Dios found Nicuesa and the handful of men who were left
from his seven hundred.

But to Nicuesa even more grateful than the sight of the
rescuing ships was the news that there was a rich and thriv-
ing town in his domains which invited him to rule over it.

The unfortunate man's pride swelled up like a balloon.
The choicest of Colmenares's provisions were turned into a
banquet. Dressed in new clothes, Nicuesa recovered his
old time gayety. Presiding at the feast, he lifted a baked
fowl on a fork and carved it skilfully in the air. It was the
trick which in happier days had won him the position of
Royal Carver. The Spanish wine, after long months of
deprivation, went to his head. He talked grandiloquently
about what he would do in Santa Maria, how he would
enforce all the fiscal laws and make everyone give an exact
account of their booty. He would teach this upstart Balboa
his place and as for Zamudio, he was a relative of the traitor
Lope de Olano. Colmenares, having been in Santa Maria,
and knowing the temper of the men, tried to stop his master's
indiscreet flow of words. But Nicuesa, after his long mis-

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 177

fortunes, would at least enjoy the glory of talking. The
two ambassadors listened to it gloomily. What they heard
from the survivors of Nicuesa's expedition did not give them
any large encouragement.

The governor had the insanity to let them start back to
Santa Maria before him. The gist of their report to the
colonists was that Nicuesa promised to be a worse tyrant
than either Enciso or the present Alcaldes.

It had been a serious mistake for Nicuesa to allow these
ambassadors to go home ahead of him. But just along
the line of such blunders lay his greatest talent. When at
last he left Nombre de Dios, he stopped along the way to
indulge his passion for making slave raids. After much
loitering he sent a man ahead named Juan de Caicedo to
prepare the colony for his august arrival.

Later events proved that seventeen of the sixty men left
from his expedition were loyal to him. But Caicedo was not
one of these. Arrived at Santa Maria, he told worse stories
of Nicuesa's tyranny and ingratitude than Albites and Corral
had told.

"What folly has possessed you," he demanded, "when
you were your own masters and free to send for this mean-
spirited tyrant to enslave you."

Distressed by such disquieting news, the colonists, as they
always did in a pinch, turned to Vasco Nunez. He promptly
replied that Nicuesa was undoubtedly their lawful governor.
He even went to the lengths of having a notary record the
fact that he had made public acknowledgment of his fealty.
But in secret he pointed out to his friends that if they had
been foolish to invite Nicuesa, they would be doubly so to
receive him.

When at last the Governor's ship reached the harbor he
found all the people gathered on the beach. But very quickly
he discovered that they had not assembled to welcome him.

178 PANAMA

The public prosecutor warned him not to land if he valued
his life, and advised him to go back where he had come from.
Nicuesa tried to argue but the unruly crowd only jeered at
him. When night came on he was forced to put out to sea,
but in the morning he returned, his pride so humbled that he
asked them to receive him as a companion, if they did not
want him as a governor. For some time they bickered. At
length he thought it safe to land, but he had no sooner put
foot on shore when he was attacked. He, besides being a
dainty carver of royal meats, was a good runner. As he
had owed his early advancement to the first accomplishment,
so now he owed his life to his fleetness of foot.

Exactly what game Vasco Nunez was playing in all this
it is impossible to determine at this late day. There is a
theory for almost every historian. It seems most probable
to me that he had planned to let things go until Nicuesa was
badly scared and then to appear as his rescuer, so to win
his gratitude and preferment over his rivals Enciso and
Zamudio. At all events he now offered shelter and protec-
tion to the harassed governor. But if this had been his
game, he had let things escape from his control.

Zamudio saw clearly that if at this juncture Balboa was
allowed to make friends with Nicuesa, he, Zamudio, who had
been most open in the sedition, would fare very shabbily. He
had gone too far to stop. So he did what he could to whip
up the excitement of the mob.

Nicuesa, all his arrogance wilted, begged that they would
keep him as a prisoner, saying that he would rather stay in
chains than return to the death-hole of Nombre de Dios.
But Zamudio was committed to Nicuesa's destruction. He
forced him and the seventeen followers who were loyal to
him into the rottenest brigantine of their little fleet and forced
him to sail. It was in March, 1511, that Nicuesa's boat left
the harbor of Santa Maria. It was never heard from again.

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 179

But whether or not Balboa's plans had gone wrong in this
matter he set to work at once to get rid of his other two rivals.
He persuaded Zamudio to bring a charge against Enciso of
"illegal usurpation of authority." There is considerable
grim humor in the thought of this Bachelor of Law arraigned
before Judge Lynch. The two Alcaldes, who had decided
on the sentence before the trial opened, allowed Enciso to
talk and argue himself out. If he had been a truly dignified
man he would have refused to take so grotesque a charge
seriously, but it is probable that he gave his tormentors
considerable sport. In common justice we must hope that
Balboa made the most of this opportunity to bait a lawyer,
for later they had their chance at him. The court found
the "usurper" guilty, sentenced him to prison and confis-
cated his goods.

Balboa realized that a prisoner, in a community which is
likely any day to storm its Bastile, is a constant source of
danger. So he released the Bachelor on his promise to leave
for Spain by the first boat. It was now Zamudio's turn.

Herrera writes: "Basco Nunez considering that the wrongs
done to James de Nicuesa and Enciso would some Time rise
in Judgment and to engross all the Government in his own
Hands, found means to persuade the other Alcalde, Za-
mudio, his Partner, to go into Spain, to give an Account of
the Colony there settled and the Reason there was to hope
that the Country would produce great Wealth."

Just what means Balboa found to persuade Zamudio to
get out of the way, we do not know.

But he at once fitted up the best of his brigantines, put
Enciso and Zamudio aboard it, and gave the command to a
friend named Valdivia. To this friend Valdivia he also
intrusted the King's fifth of all their booty, and letters and
rich presents to Diego Columbus, the Governor of Santo
Domingo, and to Passamonte, the Royal Treasurer at Santo

180 PANAMA

Domingo. It was thus ever his custom to play both the
black and the red.

Diego Columbus had been reinstated in the governorship of
Santo Domingo and in most of his father's titles and honors.
He was laying claim, under the Great Admiral's first con-
tract with the Spanish throne, to all lands which his father
had discovered. If the lawsuit was decided in his favor
Castilla del Oro would be under his jurisdiction. If the
King won the suit, as was the ordinary outcome of chivalric
justice, it would be well to have "fixed" Passamonte, who
had great influence.

Valdivia was instructed to do all in his power, with the
aid of these bribes and the promise of more, to get some sort
of legalization for Balboa's government.

The departure of this ship left Vasco Nunez in undis-
puted control of the colony. It was beginning to take on
the appearance of a town. The Indian huts had been re-
placed by substantial houses, laid out in rectangular streets.
In the center was a church, the first on the American con-
tinent. A Franciscan monastery was in process of construc-
tion. The plaza before the church, as was the case in most
early Spanish towns, was adorned with a bull-pen prison
and a gallows.

Lack of provisions had wrecked every other colony on the
Mainland. Vasco Nunez started his men in on agriculture.
He was almost the only one of the Conquistadores who had
an eye for such details. He was as hungry for gold, as keen
for adventure as the next one, but he always looked out for
the comfort of his men.

But he had no intention to embellish a colony for some one
else to govern. And he knew that the best way to establish
his position, the way to justify his past and make sure his
future, was by action — action which would make gold flow
into the coffers of the King.

Copyright by Fishbctnsh.

VILLAGE OF SAN MIGUEL, PEARL ISLANDS.

VILLAGE OF SAN MIGUEL, PEARL ISLANDS.

SANTA MAEIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 181

Herrera gives this account of his first move:

"Basco Nunez sent Francis Pizarro with six Men to dis-
cover the Country, who, having travelled three Leagues up
the River, was attacked by four hundred Indians, under
Command of the Cazique Zemaco, and hard press'd with their
Arrows and Stones, but they closing, ripp'd up the bellies of
one hundred and fifty of them, with their Swords, and
wounded many more, the Rest fled." You are asked to accept
these details on the honor of the official historian of the
Spanish court!

Pizarro returned to town with the news of his victory and
also with the admission that a wounded Spaniard named
Hernan had been left behind. This gave Vasco Nunez a
chance for one of those theatrical plays which endeared him
to the rough soldiers, and incidentally threw some discredit
on a rival.

"Go instantly," he shouted, "and bring me Francisco
Hernan, and, as you value your life, never again leave one
of my soldiers alive on the field of battle."

The wounded soldier was brought back. Pizarro had to
accept this stinging rebuke in silence. But he was the kind
who remembered such things.

Meanwhile Colmenares, who had transferred his allegiance
to Vasco Nunez after the fiasco of Nicuesa, had been sent
up the coast to Nombre de Dios to bring the remnant of that
colony to Santa Maria. As they were returning, they were
surprised to see two painted, naked savages come down on
the beach and hail them in purest Castilian. They turned
out to be two Spaniards, who many months before had
incurred the anger of Nicuesa and had fled to the jungle.
They had been adopted into the tribe of a powerful Cacique
named Careta. They gave a glowing account of the riches
of the chief's village. And it was arranged that one should
return to Careta and prepare him to receive the Spaniards

182 PANAMA

hospitably. The other came on to Santa Maria and told the
story to Balboa.

The arrival of this man was a great aid to the Spaniards.
His knowledge of Indian languages was invaluable.

The united colony now numbered over two hundred and
fifty. By leaving the half-starved men of Nicuesa's com-
pany to guard the town, Vasco Nunez could put about one
hundred and fifty able? seasoned warriors in the field. This
was enough for him to set out on his career of conquest.

The fame of Cortez's and Pizarro's conquests have so
echoed in history that one hears little of Balboa's conquest
of the Isthmus. The enemy he had to meet was not so
highly organized as either the Aztecs or Peruvians. But this
very fact made them harder to hold in subjection. Both
Pizarro and Cortez, after the dashing raids, which put the
sovereigns in their hands, were very largely assisted in
maintaining their power by the extreme centralization of
nations they had conquered. But the scattered Isthmian
tribes had no centre, which once subdued, held the rest in line.

Further, Balboa's conquest was not marred by the indis-
criminate, unnecessary bloodshed of the later campaigns.
He never massacred the natives when he could accomplish
his aims without doing so, a really distinctive honor among
the Conquist adores.

From the outset he followed a definite policy. On his
first encounter with a tribe he killed enough to make them
sue for peace. And then when they were expecting him
to slaughter the rest of them, he suddenly offered them peace
and gave them assistance against their pet enemies. As his
empire expanded there was always war on the frontier and
peace within. Very seldom did any of the conquered tribes
revolt, and during his days of power he never pushed the na-
tives to the desperation which forced a war of extermination.

His campaign against Careta was typical. Having been

SANTA MABIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 183

hospitably received and feasted, he left at twilight, to return
in the dead of night. He put most of the village to the sword
and returned to Santa Maria with Careta and his family
and a number of prisoners, also a large booty. But instead
of making a slave of the old chief or chopping off his ears as
seems to have been the ordinary Spanish practice, Vasco
Nunez made an alliance with him and started out with his
men to reduce the Cacique Ponca, Careta's special enemy.
Careta was so much touched by this unexpected leniency
that he gave his daughter to Balboa and was his steadfast
friend in the future. Although Vasco Nunez never married
the girl according to the Christian rites, Herrera testifies
that "he always lov'd and cherish'd her very much."

After overthrowing Ponca, Balboa made a friendly visit
to the village of Comagre, the greatest cacique of the coast.
His tribe numbered over ten thousand and he had at least
three thousand warriors. Herrera tells us that: "His palace
was more remarkable and better built that any that had yet
been seen either on the Islands or the little that was known of
the Continent, being one hundred and fifty Paces in Length
and eighty in Breadth ... so beautifully wrought,
that the Spaniards were amaz'd at the Sight of it, and could
not express the Manner and Curiosity of it. There were in
it several Chambers and Apartments, and one that was like
a Buttery was full of such Provisions as the Country afforded,
as Bread, Venison, Swine's Flesh, etc. There was another
large Room like a Cellar, full of earthen Vessels, containing
Several sorts of white and red Liquors, made of Indian
Wheat, Roots, a kind of Palm-Tree and other Ingredients,
the which Liquors the Spaniards commended, when they
drank them."

Here by peaceful means the Spaniards secured much gold,
and more important information. Panciaco, one of the
seven sons of the Cacique, seeing them quarrelling over the

184 PANAMA

division of the gold, told them of rich countries to the south
on the border of a great sea only a few days' journey away.
He offered to guide them to it, but said that the way was
blocked by several warlike tribes and that they could not
hope to pass with less than a thousand warriors.

This was the first authentic information which had reached
European ears of the Pacific Ocean. Vasco Nunez had found
the thing he was to do.

Returned to Santa Maria they found that Valdivia had
returned from Santo Domingo with a small stock of pro-
visions. He also brought a letter from Diego Columbus
authorizing Balboa to act as his lieutenant. The real value
of the document hung in the scales of justice in Madrid,
and on the other side of the scales rested the heavy fist of
the King. However, with no title at all Vasco Nunez could
not afford to scon7 at an uncertain one.

Valdivia was again sent to Santo Domingo with letters and
presents to the governor and to the royal treasurer, with
urgent requests for a thousand men that the exploration of
the country might be pushed forward. Besides these official
bribes and the King's fifth, most of the colonists sent their
private shares of the booty.

One of the earliest books on America, printed in English,
"The Decades of the newe worlde of west India. . . .
Wrytten in the Latine tounge by Peter Martyr of Angleria,
and translated into Englysshe by Richarde Eden, Londoni
. . . 1555," contains a glowing description of the treasure
sent on this ship. It is a good example of queer diction, and
erratic spelling, from which our Anglo-Saxon forbears re-
ceived their first ideas of the New World.

"The sameValdiuia was also sent on this message, caryinge
with hym to the Kinges treasourers (hauinge theyr office of
recepte in Hispaniola) three hundreth poundes weyght of
golde after eyght ounces to the pounde, for the fyfte portion

SANTA MAEIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 185

dewe to the Kynges escheker. This pounde of VIII vnces,
the Spanyardes caule Marcha, whiche in weyght amounteth
to fyftie pieces of golde cauled Castellani. . . . We
conclude, therefore, that the sume hereof, was XV thousande
of those peeces of golde cauled Castellani. And thus is it
apparente by this accompte, that they receaued of the bar-
barous kynges, a thousande and fyue hundreth poundes of
eyght ounces to the pounde redy wrought in sundry kyndes
of ouches, as cheynes, braselets, tablets, and plates, both to
hange before theyr brestes. and also at theyr eares and nose-
thryls."

Immediately after the departure of Valdivia, Vasco Nunez
set out on a new campaign, with 160 men. This time he
took the opposite direction, going up the river Darien. On
the whole it was a successful raid, although two canoes over-
loaded with booty were upset by the swift current.

But a branch colony which he tried to establish up the
river came to grief. Bartholome" Hurtado was left in com-
mand of thirty men. Within a few days half were sick.
Hurtado sent his invalids, with twenty-four captives and
all but ten of his well men down stream in canoes. They
were attacked and overpowered by their old enemy Cemaco.
Two of them managed to swim under water to the bank and
so escaped alive. They rejoined Hurtado, who, having
heard from other sources of a confederation of five tribes
who were planning to throw off the Spanish yoke, hurried
down to Santa Maria to warn the colony. Balboa seems to
have scorned this warning, thinking it inspired by cowardice.
But the rumor was verified from another quarter.

Peter Martyr referring to the threatened massacre says it
"had surely come to passe, if it had not byn otherwyse
hyndered by gods providence. It is therefore ascrybed to a
myracle. . . . Vaschus Nunnez therefore, who rather
by poure than by election vsurped the gouernaunce in

186 PANAMA

Dariena, beinge a master of fence, and rather a rasshe
royster then politike capitayne (althowgh fortune sumtyme
fauoureth fooles) amonge many women which in dyuers of
these regions he had taken captyue, had one whiche in fauore
and bewtie excelled all other. To this woman her owne
brother often tymes resorted, who was also dryuen oute of
his countrey with kynge Cemacchus, with whom he was
very familier and one of his chiefe gentelmen. Amonge other
communications whiche he had with his syster whom he
loued entierly, he vttered these woordes. My deare and
welbeloued syster, gyue eare to my sayinges, and keepe moste
secreatelye that whiche I wyll declare vnto yowe, yf youe
desyre youre oune welth and myne, and the prosperitie of oure
contrey and kynsefolkes. . . . And therefore admon-
yshed her, at the daye appoynted by sume occasion to con-
ueigh herselfe oute of the way, leste shee shuld bee slayne
in the confusion of bataile. . . . And thus shewinge his
syster the daye assigned to the slowghter, he departed. But
the younge woman . . . forgettinge her parentes, her
kynsfolkes, her countrey and all her frindes, ye and all the
kinges into whose throtes Vaschus had thruste his sworde,
she opened all the matter unto hym, and conceled none of
those things whiche her vndiscrete broother had declared to
her."

Not all the contemporaneous writers have claimed that this
girl — she had been baptized with name Fulvia — was one of
Balboa's household. In fact, with the exception of this
passage from Peter Martyr, who got all of his information
from Enciso, there is little evidence that Vasco Nunez was
the girl's lover.

Many later historians have seized this opportunity to
relieve their dry record of facts by a bit of romancing. They
have consecrated many pages to the tender struggle in the
breast of this fair savage between her love and her duty to

SANTA MAEIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 187

her country. But in spite of all embroidery it is a sad
and sordid story.

That these simple-minded Indian girls should have become
mistresses to the conquerors — they were more than half
slaves — is small wonder. But that the Spaniards should
have elaborately received them into the church by baptism
before debauching them is perhaps the most striking example
of their bizarre attitude toward religion.

This Fulvia betrayed the conspiracy and at the instigation
of the Spaniards, enticed her brother back into the settlement
and turned him over to them to be tortured into confession.
Working on the information wracked out of this young man,
who had loved his sister too well, Vasco Nunez was able to
surprise the confederated chiefs. Only his implacable old
enemy Cemaco escaped.

So thorough was Balboa's vengeance for this revolt, that
the "Peace of Warsaw" reigned about Santa Maria.

Returned from this foray, the colonists began to worry
about Valdivia. His boat was overdue. It was at the
bottom of the ocean, with all their treasure. It had been
driven by storms onto the coast of Yucatan. So worried
did the colony become at the lack of news from Santo
Domingo that they resolved to send out their last ship.
Colmenares and Caicedo were chosen as commissioners.
They sailed in October, 1512, about two years after Col-
menares had first arrived with reinforcements for Nicuesa.

For some time the colony had been kept busy by fighting.
Now peace had been established, and Vasco Nunez did not
have a large enough force to launch on his more ambitious
plan of crossing to the Southern sea. So now in their
idleness the colonists fell to bickering again. The cause
of the trouble was the great pile of gold which they had
brought in from the Darien raids and which had not yet
been distributed. Vasco Nunez held things together as

188 PANAMA

long as he could. In their present excited condition it was
evident that even the Archangel Gabriel could not have
divided the spoil to every one's satisfaction. When he could
keep them from it no longer, preferring to have them cut
each other's throats to making himself unpopular, he left
the town one night and went on a hunting expedition with
his father-in-law, Careta.

The factions exploded at once. There was consideraole
rioting and some bloodshed. After the mob had vented
most of its spleen, the reliable friends of Vasco Nunez began
pointing out the folly of civil war over a few hundred pounds
of gold when there was so much more to be won. Of course
this riotous distribution had been unfair. It took a cool-
headed man like Vasco Nunez to be just. And think of the
rich plunder to be gained under his leadership as soon as
reinforcements came. With such words as these his friends
were busy. When the time was ripe Balboa returned as if
nothing had happened. It was a typical piece of his diplom-
acy. He was tighter in the saddle than ever before.

The reconciliation had hardly taken place when two ships
entered the harbor. They came from Diego Columbus and
were laden down with provisions and bore a hundred and
fifty new recruits. Not the thousand, Vasco Nunez had
asked for, but that letter had not reached its destination.

On the ships came two letters for Balboa. One was from
Passamonte, the King's treasurer. It contained the long-
desired Royal Commission, appointing him Governor of
Castilla del Oro. At last he had firm ground under his feet.
But the vision of power which this letter opened for him
received a severe blow from the other letter. It was from
Zamudio. Things had not gone well with him at court.
Enciso's legal training stood him in better stead in Madrid
than it had in Darien. He had easily won the race to royal
favor. Zamudio was having a hard time to keep out of jail.

SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAEIEN 189

And he warned Vasco Nunez that warrants summoning him
to Madrid to answer Enciso's charges were on the way.

The first letter Balboa published broadcast; the other he
folded away carefully. In the midst of the general rejoicing
that evening, he was busy figuring out how many days he
could count on between the arrival of this letter from Zamudi
and the royal warrants which were following it.

CHAPTER XIII

THE SOUTHERN SEA

THESE two letters — the one making Balboa unquestioned
master of the colony, the other warning him of the king's
anger — hastened the discovery of the Pacific.

The Indian chief Panciaco had told Vasco Nunez that he
would need a thousand men to force his way through the
hostile tribes of the interior, and he had been waiting until
he could muster that number. With the warrant for his
arrest due on the next boat there was no longer time for
waiting. The one avenue of escape from royal displeasure
was the trail of discovery. Some resounding achievement
might, in spite of his enemies, win for him the favor of his
sovereign. That the means at his disposal were limited
would only add to his glory.

On September 1st, 1513, Vasco Nunez set out on his
great adventure.

He had with him one hundred and ninety men. But
they were picked men — as hard as the struggle through
which they had survived. Most of them had seen four
years service on this coast. No one unfit could have
stood out so long against the famine and the fever.

Peter Martyr, in the history of the Indies which he wrote
for the Pope, gave Balboa's followers this character:

"The owlde souldiers of Dariena, were hardened to abyde
all sorowes, and exceadynge tollerable of labour, heate,
hunger, and watchynge: In so muche that merilye they
make their booste that they have obserued a longer and
sharper lent than euer youre holinesse inioyned."

190

THE SOUTHERN SEA 191

Vasco Nunez explained to them the object of the expedi-
tion, giving them all a chance to withdraw. They knew
from bitter experience the nature of the work before them —
not one of them turned back. It was in crises like these
that the spirit of these adventurers, this remnant of the
old chivalry, shone brightest. Heathen nations were to be
won for the Church. Glory was calling them. And booty.
It is useless to try to separate these motives. The cause of
Christ influenced some of them. The "execrable sed d'oro"
inspired others. Probably there were none of all the com-
pany who did not, in varying degree, feel the pull of all
three motives.

The principal ally of this little band was a pack of blood-
hounds, and they were no mean assistance. The horses of
the Spaniards terrified the natives of Mexico. But horses
could not penetrate into the trackless jungle. But it is
doubtful if horses could have inspired more terror than
these wonderfully trained dogs. How highly they were
esteemed by the Spaniards is witnessed by the fact that all
the early chroniclers give much space to describing them.

Bancroft gives the following account of one of them:
" Among the dogs which accompanied the expedition was
one, the property of the commander, whose pedigree and
metaphysical traits and mighty deeds are minutely recorded
by contemporary historians. His name was Leoncico, little
lion, descendant of Becerrico, of the Island of San Juan.
He was in color red with black snout, of medium size and
extraordinary strength. In their foragings Leoncico counted
as one man, and drew captain's pay and share of spoils.
Upon these conditions his master frequently loaned him;
and during the wars of Darien he gained for Vasco Nunez
more than one thousand pesos de oro. He was considered
more efficient than the best soldier, and the savages stood
in the greatest terror of him. He readily discriminated be-

192 PANAMA

tween wild and tame Indians. . . . The hero of many
a conflict, he was covered with wounds, ... he escaped
the wars to meet his death by treacherous hands. He was
poisoned."

The company sailed along the coast four days to the vil-
lage of Careta — Balboa's father-in-law. There they rested
two days, recruiting a large force of Indians — Irving esti-
mates it at one thousand — as carriers.

No one who has not at first hand struggled with the jungle
can begin to appreciate the difficulties before Balboa.

In December of 1853, Captain Prevost of the British
Navy, with a detachment from H. M. S. Virago, landed
near the Gulf of San Miguel with fourteen days' provisions.
His intention was to cross the Isthmus to Caledonia Bay on
the Caribbean. He had to give it up. He recounts the
hardships they encountered in the "Journal of the London
Geographical Society," volume XXIV. "So toilsome was
our journey that we spent fifteen days in performing a dis-
tance of little more than twenty-six miles, having to force
our slow and laborious path through forests that seemed to
stretch from the Pacific to the Atlantic shores. The trees,
of stupendous size, were matted with creepers and parasiti-
cal vines, which hung in festoons from tree to tree, forming
an almost impenetrable net-work, and obliging us to hew
open a passage with our axes every step we advanced"
(quoted by Bancroft).

There are some parts of the Isthmus which have not yet
been surveyed by white men. Even in the western part,
where the Indians are completely pacified and hospitable, it
would be difficult to move a large body of men. After leav-
ing the village of Careta, Vasco Nunez was in hostile terri-
tory.

Another serious handicap was that he started toward the
end, the very worst, of the wet season. The rains begin in

THE SOUTHERN SEA 193

April and do not stop until the middle of December. It is
inconceivable that the Indians should not have urged Bal-
boa to postpone his expedition until the beginning of the
dry season. But he could not wait.

The chronology of his march is greatly confused in the
original documents. I have accepted the dates given by
Bancroft. While many of them are disputable, they are at
least consistent and as good as any given by other histo-
rians.

On the 8th of September the Spaniards entered the terri-
tory of the Cacique Ponca. At first the Indians fled before
the invaders, but Vasco Nunez, not wishing to leave any
enemy in his rear, made a friendly alliance with them. He
stayed in Ponca village, feting the treaty, until the 20th.

For four days they struggled in the jungle, part of the
time without food. As they entered the territory of Qua-
requ£ on the 24th, they were met by the Cacique Porque
and one thousand warriors.

It was the first time that this tribe had come into contact
with the white man. Despite the wonder of firearms and
the bloodhounds, the Indians held their ground stubbornly.
Several times the half-starved Spaniards charged to their
war-cry — "Santiago y a ellos!" It was not until Porque
and six hundred of his men had fallen that the day was
won. In the village of the dead chieftain the adventurers
found abundant provisions.

On the next day, the 25th of September, Vasco Nunez
climbed that "peak of Darien" from which he first saw the
Pacific.

The old chroniclers call it "Sierra Quarequa "— " The
Mountain of Quarequa." It has never been definitely
located. We are by no means sure of the course of this
march. Hubert Bancroft has tried to give the precise
route and has probably come as near to it as any modern

194 PANAMA

historian can, but much of it is mere guesswork. Careta's
territory, from which Vasco Nunez and his company started,
was probably within fifty miles of the Caledonia Bay now
on the map. They came finally to the Gulf of San Miguel,
but the course of their wanderings between these points is
unknown.

So hard had the trail proven already that only sixty-seven
of the original one hundred and ninety were strong enough
to make the ascent that morning with their leader. The
crest of the mountain was almost bare of trees. About ten
in the morning, a few hundred feet from the summit, Vasco
Nunez halted his men, sweating and panting from the steep,
hot climb. Without waiting for breath, he went on up
alone.

If ever the crisis in a man's life faced him in the concrete,
it was the case of Vasco Nunez. If the Indians had deceived
him, if from the summit he could see no ocean but the
waving tree tops, there would be no alternative but an
ignominious return to Santa Maria, to await the messengers
of the King's anger. Disappointment certainly meant
chains, and probably death. But if there was a sea — his
only reason to hope for it was the word of an Indian against
all the science of his day — if there was a sea it meant glory
and honor and position. It meant the immortal fame which
would put him side by side with Columbus.

One of the most eloquent and suggestive passages in the
works of Washington Irving is where he describes this first
vision of the new sea.

"With palpitating heart, he ascended alone the bare
mountain-top. On reaching the summit, the long-desired
prospect burst upon his view. It was as if a new world
were unfolded to him, separated from all hitherto known
by this mighty barrier of mountains. Below him extended
a vast chaos of rock and forest, and green savannas and

THE SOU THE EN SEA 195

wandering streams, while at a distance the waters of the
promised ocean glittered in the morning sun.

"At this glorious prospect Vasco Nunez sank upon his
knees, and poured out thanks to God, for being the first
European to whom it was given to make that great dis-
covery. He then called his people to ascend: 'Behold, my
friends,' said he, 'that glorious sight which we have so
much desired. Let us give thanks to God that He has
granted us this great honor and advantage. Let us pray to
Him to guide and aid us to conquer the sea and land which
we have discovered, and which Christian has never entered
to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists. As to your-
selves, be as you have hitherto been, faithful and true to
me, and by the favor of Christ you will become the richest
Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies; you will
render the greatest services to your king that ever vassal
rendered to his lord; and you will have the eternal glory
and advantage of all that is here discovered, conquered, and
converted to our holy Catholic faith.'

"The Spaniards answered this speech by embracing Vasco
Nunez, and promising to follow him to death. Among them
was a priest, named Andreas de Veram, who lifted up his
voice and chanted Te Deum laudamus, the usual anthem of
Spanish discoverers. The rest, kneeling down, joined in the
strain with pious enthusiasm and tears of joy; and never
did a more sincere oblation rise to the Deity from a sancti-
fied altar, than from that mountain summit. It was indeed
one of the most sublime discoveries that had yet been made
in the New World, and must have opened a boundless field
of conjecture to the wondering Spaniards. The imagination
delights to picture forth the splendid confusion of their
thoughts. Was this the great Indian Ocean, studded with
precious islands, abounding in gold, in gems, in spices, and
bordered by the gorgeous cities and wealthy marts of the

196 PANAMA

East? Or was it some lonely sea, locked up in the embraces
of savage uncultivated continents, and never traversed by a
bark, excepting the light pirogue of the savage? The
latter could hardly be the case, for the natives had told the
Spaniards of golden realms, and populous and powerful and
luxurious nations upon its shores. Perhaps it might be bor-
dered by various people, civilized in fact, though differing
from Europe in their civilization; who might have peculiar
laws and customs, and arts and sciences; who might form,
as it were, a world of their own, intercommuning by this
mighty sea, and carrying on commerce between their own
islands and continents; but who might exist in total igno-
rance and independence of the other hemisphere.

"Such may naturally have been the ideas suggested by
the sight of this unknown ocean. It was the prevalent be-
lief of the Spaniards, however, that they were the first
Christians who had made the discovery. Vasco Nunez,
therefore, called upon all present to witness that he took
possession of that sea, its islands, and surrounding lands, in
the name of the sovereigns of Castile. And the notary of
the expedition made a testimonial of the same, to which all
present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their
names. He then caused a fair and tall tree to be cut down
and wrought into a cross, which was elevated on the spot
whence he had first beheld the sea. A mound of stones was
likewise piled up to serve as a monument, and the names of
the Castilian sovereigns were carved on the neighboring
trees. The Indians beheld all these ceremonials and re-
joicings in silent wonder, and while they aided to erect the
cross, and piled up the mound of stones, marvelled exceed-
ingly at the meaning of these monuments, little thinking
that they marked the subjugation of their land."

Indeed almost every historian of this great event has been
filled with eloquent enthusiasm. Even old Peter Martyr, a

THE SOUTHERN SEA 197

most cordial enemy of Vasco Nunez, forgets his spite when
he tells of this expedition,

The Era of Discovery is past. There is nothing left now
that the South Pole has been reached. But these men
who looked at each other "with a wild surmise," did not
even know that they stood upon a new continent. Many
years were yet to pass before the Old World scholars real-
ized that America was not Asia. The cosmographie of the
day held no room for a new world. The globes in use
represented too small a world to contain a new continent —
much less a new ocean, greater than the one Columbus
crossed.

To-day we discover a new star because our reason tells us
it should be there. Balboa had discovered a sea where
reason said there should be none.

The next day he started down towards the coast. "And
going thither" — the quotation is from John Ogilby, Esq.,
His Britannic Majesty's Cosmographer, Geographick Printer
and Master of the Revels in the Kingdom of Ireland, from his
book "America," printed in 1671 — "he was met by King
Chiapes, leading an Army of thirty thousand Men, which
great Body stood not long to make Resistance, being terri-
fi'd with the Volleys of Shots, whose Report the ecchoing
Valleys presented to their Ears, double and trebble : And that
which most amaz'd and disanimated them in the rout, were
the Dogs, who fiercely pursu'd and seiz'd the flyres, tearing
away great morsels of Flesh. After the Battel, the Con-
queror proffer'd Peace, which was agreed on, upon the
delivery of several great Presents of Gold." Oviedo
says that the price of peace was five hundred pounds of
gold.

Vasco Nunez sent back the guides who had come from
Quarequd with orders for his stragglers to join him at the
village of Chiapes. He sent out three scouting parties,

198 PANAMA

under Pizarro, Alonso de Ben Benito and Juan de Escary,
to discover the shortest route to the sea.

After two days struggling with the jungle Ben Benito's
party reached the beach. He found a native dug-out tied
upon the bank. Jumping into it, he shouted to his compan-
ions, "I call you all to witness that I am the first Spaniard
to sail upon these waters." There was not one of the com-
pany who did not realize that glory was near at hand.

On St. Michael's Day, September 29th, Balboa with
twenty-six of his men came to the place discovered by Ben
Benito. It had taken them twenty-three days to cross from
ocean to ocean. The tide was out when they arrived.
Once more I will hand the narrative over to Irving:

"After a while, the water came rushing in with great
impetuosity, and soon reached nearly to the place where the
Spaniards were reposing. Upon this Vasco Nunez rose and
took a banner on which were painted the Virgin and Child,
and under them the arms of Castile and Leon; then drawing
his sword and throwing his buckler on his shoulder, he
marched into the sea until the water reached above his
knees, and waving his banner, exclaimed with a loud voice,
'Long live the high and mighty monarchs, Don Ferdinand
and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, of Leon, and of
Arragon, in whose name, and for the royal crown of Castile,
I take real, and corporal, and actual possession of these seas,
and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the south,
and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and prov-
inces which do or may appertain to them, in whatever man-
ner, or by whatever right or title, ancient or modern, in
times past, present, or to come, without any contradiction;
and if other prince or captain, Christian or infidel, or of any
law, sect or condition whatsoever, shall pretend any right
to these lands and seas, I am ready and prepared to main-
tain and defend them, in the name of the Castilian sover-

TEE SOUTHERN SEA 199

eigns present and future, whose is the empire and dominion
over these Indian islands, and Terra Firma, northern and
southern, with all their seas, both at the arctic and antarctic
poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within
or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now
and in all times, as long as the world endures, and unto the
final day of judgment of all mankind.'

"This swelling declaration and defiance being uttered
with a loud voice, and no one appearing to dispute his pre-
tensions, Vasco Nunez called upon his companions to bear
witness of the fact of his having duly taken possession.
They all declared themselves ready to defend his claim to
the uttermost, as became true and loyal vassals to the Cas-
tilian sovereigns; and the notary having drawn up a docu-
ment for the occasion, they subscribed it with their names.

"This done, they advanced to the margin of the sea, and
stooping down, tasted its waters. When they found that,
though severed by intervening mountains and continents,
they were salt like the seas of the north, they felt assured
that they had indeed discovered an ocean, and again re-
turned thanks to God.

"Having concluded all these ceremonies, Vasco Nunez
drew a dagger from his girdle, and cut a cross on a tree which
grew within the water, and made two other crosses on two
adjacent trees, in honor of the Three Persons of the Trinity,
and in token of possession. His followers likewise cut
crosses on many of the tress of the adjacent forest, and lopped
off branches with their swords to bear away as trophies.

"Such was the singular medley of chivalrous and religious
ceremonial, with which these Spanish adventurers took pos-
session of the vast Pacific Ocean, and all its lands — a scene
strongly characteristic of the nation and the age."

The Spaniards then returned to the village of Chiapes,
"richer," according to Bancroft, "by one Pacific Ocean, ten

200 PANAMA

thousand islands, and twenty-five hundred leagues of conti-
nental seaboard."

And now, having accomplished fame, they turned their
attention to more sordid things. Chiapes proved to be a
valuable friend. His particular enemy, the Cacique Cocura,
was a rich man. By a quick raid the Spaniards secured
650 pesos of gold.

Chiapes was unweary in well doing and pointed out
another enemy, the Cacique Tumaco. His domain lay on
the other side of the Gulf. On the 17th of October, with
eighty men, Balboa and Chiapes started out in cayukas to
visit him. A sudden storm nearly ended the career of the
great discoverer. They were wrecked on a tidal bar and
had to spend the night waist deep in water. But at low-tide
in the morning they were able to patch up their canoes and
get ashore near Tumaco's village. Once more there was a
fight by way of introduction. It so impressed Tumaco with
the power of the white man that he paid Vasco Nunez 614
pesos of gold and a basin of pearls, 240 of which were of
extraordinary size.

Balboa was the only one of the Conquistadores who had
the knack of making friends with the conquered. Of an-
other chief who had just suffered a severe defeat, Peter
Martyr wrote:

"Vaschus enterteyned hym very frendely, and persuaded
him neuer therafter to stande in feare. Thus they ioyned
handes, embrased, and gaue greate gyftes the one to the
other to knytte up the knotte of continuall amitie."

He had crossed the Isthmus, entering each new village at
the point of the sword and always making so friendly an
alliance with the defeated caciques that he was able to leave
his sick and wounded in their care as he pushed on. It
was a truly remarkable performance.

They stayed nearly two weeks with Tumaco. He took

rfffliiill'j^-

mm

-

THE STEAMER VERAGUAS.

THE DESERTED RANCHO.

THE SOUTHERN SEA 201

them over his pearl fisheries. In four days his divers brought
up ninety-six ounces of pearls. And he told them tales of
the greater riches of Peru to the south. Francisco Pizarro
was one of the men who sat by the campfire and listened
to these stories.

On the 29th Tumaco loaned them his great war-canoe —
the largest native boat they had yet seen. Balboa writes
the king that the paddles were inlaid with pearls — probably
mother-of-pearl. And in this immense dug-out, rowed by
the Cacique's slaves, they went out of the Gulf into the
ocean. For Balboa was not quite content with the cere-
monies he had performed on the Gulf. To make doubly
sure, he repeated them on the sea-coast. Herrera writes:
" Herein he used all the formalities that could be imagined,
for he was brave, subtle, diligent and of a generous temper,
a commander fit for mighty enterprises."

Coming back from these ceremonies, the Indians pointed
out the group of islands which broke the southern horizon.
There they said lived a cruel chief who sometimes descended
on the mainland and harried their villages. The Spaniards
were probably more interested to hear that the islands were
rich in pearls.

Balboa would have liked to visit this Cacique. But the
dangers of navigation in native boats during the season of
storms was too great. He gave the archipelago the name
it still retains, Islas des Perles. He promised his friend
Chiapes to return in a few months and make an end of this
terror of the coast.

On November 3rd, again leaving his sick and wounded
with the friendly Indians, he started back. Chiapes accom-
panied him part of the way. In canoes they went up one
of the large rivers which enter into the Gulf of San Miguel —
either the Savanahs or the Chucunaque.

Up this river, they entered the territory of Teoca. This

202 PANAMA

Cacique was easily subdued and the booty of the Spaniards
was increased by one hundred and sixty ounces of gold and
two hundred large pearls. Once more Balboa consum-
mated his victory by an alliance of real friendship. This
characteristic of Vasco Nunez cannot be emphasized too
strongly. More than any other thing it differentiates him
from the other Conquist adores. The old chronicles give
touching accounts of how Chiapes, when the time came for
turning back to his own people, broke into tears at parting
from his white friend.

After leaving the river the Spaniards met the hardest
climbing of all the trail. It was a triumph for the tactics
of their leader that they crossed the mountain without loss
of life. They could not have done so without the friendship
and aid of their Indian allies.

On the top of the mountain lived and ruled a desolate old
tyrant named Poncra. If half of what the chroniclers say
of him was true, he had considerably more crimes to his
record than the entire Borgia family. So generally was he
hated that no sooner had Balboa conquered him than all his
neighbors, his own subjects as well as his enemies, clamored
for his death

"The guides which Teaocha had provided for the Span-
iards," Ogilby writes, "desir'd that he (Poncra) might be
put to Death, for the cruelties which he had long committed,
whose Request being granted, he with the other three Princes,
were given as a breakfast to the Spanish doggs."

Bancroft is greatly shocked by this incident and says
that it is the blackest stain on the record of Balboa. It
was bad indeed, but the times were bad. Vasco Nunez
never committed such acts with the wanton cynicism of
his successors. So great was the impression made on the
natives by this execution that within a week three caciques
voluntarily submitted and the Spaniards were able to col-

THE SOU THE EN SEA 203

lect a tribute of sixteen thousand golden pesos without
further bloodshed. Four Indians for 16,000 pesos! In
after years it was not uncommon for the Spaniards to kill
sixteen Indians for four pesos. So far was Vasco Nunez
from thinking that he had committed a heinous crime that
he named the place "Todos los Santos" (All Saints).

On the 15th of December, loaded down with booty, the
explorers reached the village of the Pocorosa. This Cacique,
who was later to make his name dreaded by the Spaniards,
submitted voluntarily. For about a month Vasco Nunez
stayed in this place to recoup his followers and to allow the
stragglers to catch up with him.

Next to the territory of Pocorosa were the domains of the
great Cacique Tubanam£. Panciaco, the chief who had
first told Balboa of the Southern Sea, had spoken of Tuba-
namd as his worst enemy. Vasco Nunez had given his word
to reduce him. But it was because of the strength and prow-
ess of this very chief, that Panciaco had said the Spaniards
would need one thousand men. If ever a man would have
been justified in repudiating a promise, Balboa would have
been in this instance. Tubanamd, was the most dreaded
warrior of the Isthmus. The jungle-worn Spaniards had
already met and overcome difficulties aplenty. They were
now near home. To attack meant the risk of all their hard-
earned booty. For a defeat would have discredited them
with their allies. But the alternative was a cowardly de-
tour. Vasco Nunez consulted his men. Seventy of them
volunteered! Seventy of these "owlde souldiers of Dari-
ena" volunteered to achieve the work of a thousand. By a
forced night march and a sudden raid, Vasco Nunez sur-
prised and captured the mighty chieftain. For several days
Balboa kept him in suspense, threatening him with the fate
of Poncra. But at last he relented, accepted a rich ransom
and made an alliance.

204 PANAMA

This brilliant coup, perhaps the most daring of all the
expedition, was no sooner achieved than Vasco Nunez
came down with the fever. "And," writes Bancroft, "no
wonder when we consider the strain on mind and body
during the past four months. First in every action, bearing
exposure and privation in common with the poorest soldier,
with the responsibility of the adventure resting wholly on
him, he was a fit subject for the fever. But his indomitable
spirit never forsook him, and, causing himself to be carried
on a litter, he still directed their movements as they re-
sumed the march.

"Weary, ragged, but exultant, the party at length reached
the village of Comagre."

In a few days they were met by messengers from Santa
Maria with the news that two ships had arrived from Santo
Domingo with reinforcements and provisions. Leaving the
greater part of his force to rest and follow at their leisure,
Vasco Nunez hurried on. He reached the colony on Jan-
uary 19th, 1514, just four months and nineteen days after
he had started out.

The ships from Santo Domingo had not brought the Royal
warrant for his arrest. The King's fifth, together with an
extra present of two hundred of the largest pearls, were set
aside. And Balboa composed for his sovereign a glowing
account of the discovery.

"And in all his long letter," says Peter Martyr, "there
is not a single leaf written, which does not contain thanks
to Almighty God for delivery from perils and preservation
from many imminent dangers."

This letter bears the date of March 4th, 1514. It was
sent a few days later in the care of Pedro de Arbolancha.
The reason for this long delay is unknown. For Vasco
Nunez it was a fatal delay.

Some of the caciques in the Darien valley had revolted,

THE SOU T BEEN SEA 205

but Hurtado with a few men, and the news that Vasco
Nunez had returned, was able to quiet them.

Andres Garabitio was also sent out with a few men to
survey the shortest route between the two oceans.

These two items speak powerfully of the character of
Vasco Nunez. At this period, when he was the undisputed
head of the colony, a Spaniard was safe anywhere in the
districts which had been visited. The town of Santa Maria
was thriving. The fields planted by the governor's orders
were bearing richly. There was no longer danger of famine.
Over a large territory peace reigned among the natives. A
peace which they considered cheaply bought with the gold
the Spaniards desired.

Whatever were the faults of Vasco Nunez, no Spanish
king ever had in the New World a more able governor.
One cannot but regret that his letter to the king had not
been earlier despatched. If it had arrived in Spain a few
weeks earlier, he would probably have been confirmed in his
governorship. The entire Isthmus might have been con-
quered— perhaps also Peru — by this man who knew how to
make himself beloved by the Indians.

Irving ends his account of the discovery of the South Sea
with these paragraphs:

"Thus ended one of the most remarkable expeditions of
the early discoverers. The intrepidity of Vasco Nunez in
penetrating, with a handful of men, far into the interior of
a wild and mountainous country peopled by warlike tribes;
his skill in managing his band of rough adventurers, stimu-
lating their valor, enforcing their obedience, and attaching
their affections, show him to have possessed great qualities
as a general. We are told that he was always foremost in
peril, and the last to quit the field. He shared the toils and
dangers of the meanest of his followers, treating them with
frank affability; watching, fighting, fasting and laboring

206 PANAMA

with them; visiting and consoling such as were sick or in-
firm, and dividing all his gains with fairness and liberality.
He was chargeable at times with acts of bloodshed and
injustice, but it is probable that these were often called for
as measures of safety and precaution; he certainly offended
less against humanity than most of the early discoverers;
and the unbounded amity and confidence reposed in him by
the natives, when they became intimately acquainted with
his character, speak strongly in favor of his kind treatment
of them

"The character of Vasco Nunez had, in fact, risen with
his circumstances, and now assumed a nobleness and gran-
deur from the discovery he had made, and the important
charge it had devolved upon him. He no longer felt him-
self a mere soldier of fortune, at the head of a band of
adventurers, but a great commander conducting an im-
mortal enterprise. 'Behold,' says Peter Martyr, 'Vasco
Nunez de Balboa, at once transformed from a rash royster
to a politic and discreet captain'; and thus it is that men
are often made by their fortunes; that is to say, their latent
qualities are brought out, and shaped and strengthened by
events, and by the necessity of every exertion to cope with
the greatness of their destiny."

CHAPTER XIV

PEDRARIAS

WHILE Vasco Nunez was accomplishing fame in America,
things were going very badly for him at the Spanish Court.

The Bachelor Enciso was making a great din with his
accusations. But his very energy in reciting his misfor-
tunes defeated his purpose. While convincing the Court
that Vasco Nunez was an unmitigated scoundrel, he also
created the general impression that Castilla del Oro was a
province as valueless as it was deadly. After the tragic
fates of Nicuesa and Ojeda, no one petitioned the Throne
for the post of governor.

The arrival of Colmenares and Caicedo, the delegates
from the colony, changed all this. They brought an im-
pressive ''King's Fifth" of wrought gold and news of a
Southern Sea. A dozen applicants sprang up, eager to deal
justice to Balboa and rule the rich province in his stead.

The Bishop Fonseca, who had befriended Ojeda, was still
supreme in the Council of the Indies. He secured the post
for his friend, Don Pedro Arias de Avila. No one connected
with the administration of Spanish colonial affairs has a
blacker record than this Bishop Fonseca, and no appoint-
ment of his was ever worse than Pedrarias, "The Scourge of
the Indies."

So great was the interest excited by the stories of Colme-
nares and Caicedo, that fifty thousand ducats, an immense
sum for those days, was spent on equipping the expedition.

A large army had been recruited for the Italian wars,
207

208 PANAMA

and, just at the time when Pedrarias was appointed gov-
ernor and captain-general of Castilla del Oro, peace was
established. The soldiers, mustered out, flocked to his
standard. There were many of the nobility among these
volunteers — men who had heavily mortgaged their estates
to equip their vassals for the war, and now that the hope
of Italian booty was withdrawn, turned to the New World.

Pedrarias collected a fleet of nineteen ships. They were
authorized to carry twelve hundred men, but so great was
the pressure of applicants that three hundred more were
crowded on board. Two thousand volunteers were turned
away. Among this company — mostly gay but bankrupt
cavaliers — were two hardy men who were to win fame —
Hernando de Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi, and
Diego de Almagro, who became partner with Pizarro in the
conquest of Peru. The Bachelor Enciso also joined the
expedition.

By royal decree Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien
was given a city charter and elevated to metropolitan rank.
A Franciscan friar, Juan de Quevedo, was appointed Bishop
of this first episcopal see on the continent. Gaspar de
Espinosa was sent out as Alcalde Mayor, with especial
instructions to bring Vasco Nunez to book.

The armada sailed in the beginning of 1514, but shortly
ran into a storm which foundered two of the ships and forced
it to put back to Spain to refit. It was not until the llth
of April that they got up anchor again

Only a few days later, Pedro Arbolancha, who had left
Santa Maria early in March, arrived with the letter from
Vasco Nunez with its description of finding the Southern
Sea. This news created as much excitement as the return
of Columbus, twenty-two years before, from his first voy-
age. But it came too late.

"The tidings of this discovery," Irving writes, "made all

PEDBAKIAS 209

Spain resound with the praises of Vasco Nunez; and from
being considered a lawless and desperate adventurer, he was
lauded to the skies as a worthy successor to Columbus.
The king repented of the harshness of his late measures
toward him, and ordered the Bishop Fonseca to devise
some mode of rewarding his transcendent services."

But Pedrarias had sailed — and there was no wireless to
call him back.

Before they reached their destination the new governor
had already committed himself to the course he was to
follow until his death. He stopped his fleet at some of the
Caribbean Islands to make slave raids and he hung a sailor
at the yardarm for not properly saluting an officer.

Irving gives the following account of the arrival of Pedra-
rias in his new domains :

"The town (Sta. Maria de la Antigua) was situated on
the banks of a river, and contained upward of two hundred
houses and cabins. Its population amounted to five hun-
dred and fifteen Europeans, all men, and fifteen hundred
Indians, male and female. Orchards and gardens had been
laid out, where European as well as native fruits and vege-
tables were cultivated, and already gave promise of future
abundance. Vasco Nunez devised all kinds of means to
keep up the spirits of the people. On holidays they had their
favorite national sports and games, and particularly tilting
matches, of which chivalrous amusement the Spaniards in
those days were extravagantly fond. Sometimes he grati-
fied their restless and roving habits by sending them on
expeditions to various parts of the country, to acquire a
knowledge of its resources, and to strengthen his sway over
the natives. He was so successful in securing the amity, or
exciting the awe of the Indian tribes, that a Spaniard might
go singly about the land in perfect safety; while his followers
were zealous in their devotion to him, both from admiration

210 PANAMA

of his past exploits and from hopes of soon being led by
him to new discoveries and conquests. . . .

"Such were the hearty and well-seasoned veterans that
were under the sway of Vasco Nunez; and the colony gave
signs of rising in prosperity under his active and fostering
management, when, in the month of June, the fleet of Don
Pedrarias Davila arrived in the Gulf of Uraba.

"The Spanish cavaliers who accompanied the new gov-
ernor were eager to get on shore, and to behold the antici-
pated wonders of the land; but Pedrarias, knowing the
resolute character of Vasco Nunez, and the devotion of his
followers, apprehended some difficulty in getting possession
of the colony. Anchoring, therefore, about a league and a
half from the settlement, he sent a messenger on shore to
announce his arrival. The envoy, having heard so much in
Spain of the prowess and exploits of Vasco Nunez, and the
riches of Golden Castile, expected, no doubt, to find a
blustering warrior, maintaining barbaric state in the gov-
ernment which he had usurped. Great was his astonish-
ment, therefore, to find this redoubtable hero a plain, unas-
suming man, clad in a cotton frock and drawers, and hempen
sandals, directing and aiding the labor of several Indians
who were thatching a cottage in which he resided.

"The messenger approached him respectfully, and an-
nounced the arrival of Don Pedrarias Davila as governor
of the country.

"Whatever Vasco Nunez may have felt at this intelli-
gence, he suppressed his emotions, and answered the mes-
senger with great discretion: 'Tell Don Pedrarias Davila/
said he, 'that he is welcome, and I congratulate him on his
safe arrival, and am ready, with all who are here, to obey
his orders.'

"The little community of rough and daring adventurers
was in an uproar when they found a new governor had

PEDEAEIAS 211

arrived. Some of the most zealous adherents of Vasco
Nunez were disposed to sally forth, sword in hand, and repel
the intruder; but they were restrained by their more con-
siderate chieftain, who prepared to receive the new governor
with all due submission.

"Pedrarias disembarked on the thirtieth of June, accom-
panied by his heroic wife, Donna Isabella, who, according
to Old Peter Martyr, had sustained the roarings and rages
of the ocean with no less stout courage than either her hus-
band or the mariners who had been brought up among the
surges of the sea.

"Pedrarias set out for the embryo city at the head of
two thousand men, all well armed. He led his wife by the
hand, and on the other side of him was the Bishop of Darien
in his robes; while a brilliant train of youthful cavaliers, in
glittering armor and brocade, formed a kind of body-guard.

"All this pomp and splendor formed a striking contrast
with the humble state of Vasco Nunez, who came forth
unarmed, in simple attire, accompanied by his counsellors
and a handful of the 'old soldiers of Darien/ scarred and
battered, and grown half wild in Indian warfare, but without
weapons, and in garments much the worse for wear.

"Vasco Nunez saluted Don Pedrarias Davila, with pro-
found reverence, and promised him implicit obedience, both
in his own name and in the name of the community. Hav-
ing entered the town, he conducted his distinguished guests
to his straw-thatched habitation, where he had caused a
repast to be prepared of such cheer as his means afforded,
consisting of roots and fruits, maize and cassava bread, with
no other beverage than water from the river; — a sorry palace
and a meagre banquet in the eyes of the gay cavaliers, who
had anticipated far other things from the usurper of Golden
Castile. Vasco Nunez, however, acquitted himself in his
humble wigwam with the courtesy and hospitality of a

212 PANAMA

prince, and showed that the dignity of an entertainment
depends more upon the giver than the feast. In the mean-
time a plentiful supply of European provisions was landed
from the fleet, and a temporary abundance was diffused
through the colony."

But this love feast was of short duration. As soon as
Pedrarias had won all the information he could from Vasco
Nunez by fair means, he published his orders, which stripped
the discoverer of all his honors, and ordered his trial.

Espinosa, the judge, had fallen entirely under the influ-
ence of the Bishop Quevedo. And Vasco Nunez, who was
a shrewd judge of men, had taken the churchman's measure
at a glance. He had taken so quick and keen an interest
in the prelate's temporal affairs that the good bishop felt
that the welfare of the diocese was wrapt up in the pros-
perity of Balboa. To the great disgust of the governor,
Vasco Nunez was triumphantly acquitted of all criminal
charges.

Pedrarias was in a perplexing dilemma. To allow so
popular a leader freedom of action in the colony was to
invite the fate of Enciso and Nicuesa. To send him home
to Spain would be to send him to a triumph from which he
would doubtless return with a superseding commission.
The Bachelor Enciso came to his rescue with a string of
civil suits; by carefully nursing them — the "law's delays"
were as infamous then as now — the governor could keep his
rival hopelessly involved in litigation.

Undoubtedly the Bachelor enjoyed the situation. And
undoubtedly Vasco Nunez — in the long days which followed,
days and weeks and months of inaction, when he had to sit
quiet and watch the fabric of his accomplishments torn to
shreds, his plans wrecked, his friends despoiled, his treaties
violated — repented grievously of his former mistreatment of
Enciso.

PEDRAEIAS 213

There were other men who enjoyed his eclipse. Every
one who had a private grudge against him, hastened to make
friends with Pedrarias. Not the least of these was Fran-
sico Pizarro. Vasco Nunez had once rebuked him for cow-
ardice in leaving a wounded comrade on the field of battle.
Pizarro became a trusted lieutenant of the new governor.

But although the great work of Balboa could be wrecked
by mean-spirited, less able men, it could not be done with-
out cost. Vasco Nunez had made the colony self-supporting.
The "owlde souldiers of Dariena," who could merrily make
their boast that they had observed a longer and sharper
lenten fast than the Pope enjoined, "since for the space of
four years, their food had been herbs and fruits, with now
and then fish and very seldom flesh, " could live comfortably
on the produce of their farms. The sudden influx of fifteen
hundred raw recruits from Spain was a strain the little
colony could have borne only with great foresight and self-
restraint. These qualities the enemies of Balboa lacked.
Irving explains the disaster which followed in these para-
graphs :

"It is not a matter of surprise that a situation of this
kind, in a tropical climate, should be fatal to the health of
Europeans. Many who had recently arrived were swept off
speedily; Pedrarias himself fell sick, and was removed, with
most of his people, to a healthier spot on the river Corobari ;
the malady, however, continued to increase. The provisions
brought out in the ships had been partly damaged by the sea
and the residue grew scanty, and the people were put upon
short allowance; the debility thus produced increased the
ravages of disease; at length the provisions were exhausted,
and the horrors of absolute famine ensued.

"Every one was more or less affected by these calamities;
even the veterans of the colony quailed beneath them; but
to none were they more fatal than to the crowd of youthful

214 PANAMA

cavaliers who had once glittered so gayly about the streets
of Seville, and had come out to the New World elated with
the most sanguine expectations. From the very moment
of their landing, they had been disheartened at the savage
scenes around them, and disgusted with the squalid life
they were doomed to lead. They shrunk with disdain from
the labors with which alone wealth was to be procured in
this land of gold and pearls, and were impatient of the hum-
ble exertions necessary for the maintenance of existence.
As the famine increased, their case became desperate; for
they were unable to help themselves, and their rank and dig-
nity commanded neither deference nor aid at a time when
common misery made every one selfish. Many of them,
who had mortgaged estates in Spain to fit themselves out
sumptuously for their Italian campaign, now perished for
lack of food. Some would be seen bartering a robe of crim-
son silk, or some garment of rich brocade, for a pound of
Indian bread or European biscuit; others sought to satisfy
the cravings of hunger with the herbs and roots of the field,
and one of the principal cavaliers absolutely expired of hun-
ger in the public streets.

"In this wretched way, and in the short space of one
month, perished seven hundred of the little army of youth-
ful and buoyant spirits who had embarked with Pedrarias.
The bodies of some remained for a day or two without
sepulchre, their friends not having sufficient strength to
bury them. Unable to remedy the evil, Pedrarias gave
permission to his men to flee from it. A ship-load of starv-
ing adventurers departed for Cuba, where some of them
joined the standard of Diego Velasquez, who was colonizing
that island; others made their way back to Spain, where
they arrived broken in health, in spirits, and in fortune."

While this blight was depopulating the once prosperous
town of Santa Maria, affairs were going a thousand times

PEDEAEIAS 215

worse in the young empire which Vasco Nunez, now a help-
less prisoner, had built up with so much labor and skill.

The king had ordered that a road should be built across
the Isthmus, garrisons established at important places and
a town created on the new ocean.

An expedition of four hundred men under Juan de Ayora
was sent out on this mission. He began by sacking the
villages of the friendly Indians. The historian Oviedo, who
had come out in the retinue of Pedrarias, writes:

"The caciques were tortured to make them disclose their
gold. Some they roasted, others they threw to the dogs,
others were hanged. . . . This infernal hunt lasted
several months."

Hurtado, a former friend of Balboa's, was sent out to
support Ayora. Anxious to win the favor of Pedrarias,
he tried to excel in brutality. Returning from his raid he
stopped at the village of Careta and asked for men to carry
in his spoil. When he arrived at Santa Maria, he made
slaves of them, giving six to the governor, six to the bishop,
four to the judge Espinosa, and selling the rest for his pri-
vate profit. In this manner the Spaniards under Pedrarias
violated the alliances of Balboa and sowed the whirlwind.

Ayora, having built and garrisoned a fort, called Santa
Crux, up the coast in the territory of the Cacique Pocorosa,
started across the Isthmus on an orgy of rapine. Every-
where the natives met him hospitably as a friend of Vasco
Nunez and everywhere they were massacred. He founded
a second garrison in the domain of Tubanamd, and, without
having reached the ocean, returned to Santa Maria, loaded
down with slaves and booty. But he was not content with
robbing the natives; he was not willing to divide his spoils
with the colony or with the king. His men seized a ship
in the harbor and made off with their loot. Ayora had
powerful friends in Spain and was never punished.

216 PANAMA

Peter Martyr writes of him: "In all the turmoyls and
tragicall affayres of the Ocean, nothing has no muche dis-
pleased me, as the couetousnesse of this man, who hath so
disturbed the pacified mindes of the kinges."

"If Juan de Ayora had been punished for his many
injuries to the peaceable caciques," Balboa wrote to the
king, "the other captains would not have dared to commit
like excesses."

But Pedrarias, instead of trying to punish Ayora, is said
to have profited not only from his cruelties, but also from
his embezzlement of the King's fifth.

All the raids were not so successful. Francisco Becerra,
after bringing in 7,000 pesos of gold and one hundred slaves,
was sent with 180 men to reduce the Cenu tribes on the
other side of the Gulf. Many Spaniards had died from their
poisoned arrows and Becerra vowed that he would extermi-
nate them. But he fell stupidly into an ambush and only
a native slave boy escaped to bring the news to Santa Maria.

The garrison which Ayora had established at Santa Cruz
by their deviltry drove the Indians of their neighborhood
into a revolt of desperation. The Cacique Pocorosa led the
attack. Only five of the Spaniards escaped by boat. The
Indians melted gold and poured it down the throats of their
captives.

"Eat gold, you Christians," they cried. "Eat it. Have
your fill of gold."

In March, 1515, Gonzalo de Badajoz started out with
130 men. They went up the coast as far as Nombre de
Dios; they could find no marks of Nicuesa's colony, so thor-
oughly had the jungle swallowed up the ruins. He sent
back booty, estimated by Bancroft at $500,000 of our cur-
rency. He adds: "In addition to gold there were always
women for baptism, lust, and slavery, and so the Christians
were happy."

PEDRAEIAS 217

Badajoz then crossed the Isthmus and by treachery and
murder collected 100,000 castellanos more. But again the
Indians, driven to desperation — this time in the territory
of the Cacique Parita, to the west of Panama — combined
against the invaders. In a series of severe fights seventy of
the Spaniards were killed. The remainder, forced to aban-
don their booty, escaped to the island of Toboga. After
some weeks of rest in this place they returned to the main-
land and fought their way back to Santa Maria.

In June, Vasco Nunez temporarily escaped from the law-
yers and accompanied an expedition of two hundred men
up the Darien River in search of the mythical Golden Tem-
ple of Dabaiba. The Indians attacked them in canoes and
diving overboard upset the boats of the Spaniards. Half
of them were drowned in the swift current. Balboa brought
back the remnant and was again entangled by litiga-
tion.

What Vasco Nunez thought of lawyers is vigorously ex-
pressed in one of his letters to the king.

"Most powerful sire, there is one great favor that I pray
your royal highness to do me, since it is of greatest import-
ance to your service. It is for your royal highness to issue
an order that no bachiller of laws or anything unless it be of
medicine, shall come to these parts of Tierra Firme . . .
because no bachiller ever comes hither who is not a devil,
and they all live like devils, and not only are they them-
selves bad, but they make others bad."

In November, 1515, Antonio Tello de Gutzman was sent
out to complete the work of Ayora. He found the garrison
of Tubanamd closely besieged and almost overcome by
famine. This expedition pushed westward into new terri-
tory. Crossing the Rio Chepo, they came to the place
which the Indians called Panamd — "Abounding in fish."
Albrites led a detachment through territory which is now

218 PANAMA

the Canal Zone to the Chagres River. He boasted that he
had gathered 1,200 golden pesos without bloodshed. Return-
ing to the Caribbean Sea, the expedition had to fight for
every step. Pocorosa, the chief who had overthrown the
garrison of Santa Crux, was on the warpath. He used as
his banner a Spanish shirt, soaked in Spanish blood. The
days when the natives had thought Balboa was invincible
had passed. As they discovered the villainy of the white
men they had discovered their vulnerability. Gutzman
lost many men on the route, but managed to keep a tight
hold on his booty and slaves.

Although the Bishop Fonseca had been able all this time
to block any official preferment for Balboa, news of the
enthusiasm with which he was regarded in Spain began to
reach Darien. And Pedrarias, fearing that his rival might
be made governor of the Southern Seas, decided to stake
out the claim ahead of him. He dispatched his cousin,
Gaspar de Morales, and Pizarro to take possession in his
name. They found the Caciques Chiapes and Tumaco as
yet undespoiled and friendly. Leaving a garrison on the
mainland under Penalosa, they embarked in canoes furn-
ished by the friendly natives for the Pearl Islands. After a
fierce fight they subdued the cacique, and, following Bal-
boa's policy, made friends with him. From him Pizarro
heard new and more precise stories of the great empire of
the Incas. They extracted a heavy tribute from their host
as a price of peace. It contained a pearl which Vasco
Nunes described in a letter to the king as "very perfect,
without a scratch or stain, and of a very pretty color, and
lustre and make; which in truth is a jewel well worthy of
presentation to your Majesty, more particularly as coming
from these parts." It weighed 31 carats and Vasco Nunez,
after this broad hint as to what would have happened to it
if he had been in power, adds, "It was put up at auction

PEDEAEIAS 219

and sold for 1,200 pesos del oro to a merchant and finally
fell into the hands of the Governor."

Returning to the mainland, Morales and Pizarro found
the Indians in war-paint. Penalosa and his men had been
spending their time outraging the native women. The two
generals summoned a council of their allies. Eighteen
caciques, remembering the justice of Vasco Nunez and
expecting to have their wrongs righted, came in. Morales
and Pizarro threw them to the dogs. They then spread
fire and sword through the countryside. The last of the
twenty-five tribes which Balboa had bound to him by
friendly alliances were turned into bitter enemies. In one
village the Spaniards slaughtered seven hundred, mostly
women and children, within an hour. But once more the
white men were to learn that the Indians when driven to
desperation become formidable. The Cacique of Biru, whose
territory lay to the east of the Gulf, administered a stinging
defeat. Morales and Pizarro were forced into a retreat,
which soon became a rout. They even had to murder most
of the captives they had taken for slaves. At last, the wreck
of their expedition, clinging to their pearls, straggled into
Santa Maria.

"Be it known to your Majesty," Balboa wrote, "that dur-
ing this excursion was perpetrated the greatest cruelty ever
heard of in Arabian or Christian country, in any genera-
tion. And this it is. This captain and the surviving
Christians while on this journey took nearly one hundred
Indians of both sexes, mostly women and children, fastened
with chains and afterwards ordered them to be decapitated
and scalped."

"Being cousin and servant of the Governor," Oviedo re-
marks, Morales suffered "neither punishment nor pain."

Towards the end of 1515, Pedrarias personally led an
expedition against the Cenu. A few women and children

220 PANAMA

were massacred and then the soldiers, afraid of the poisoned
arrows, insisted on abandoning the campaign. Pedrarias
returned to the Isthmus and started a town at Acla, near the
present Caledonia Bay. He then fell sick of a fever and re-
turned to Santa Maria, leaving Espinosa, the Alcalde Mayor,
in charge of the new town.

The judge, having found that litigation was not as profit-
able as he had hoped, decided to lay aside his law books and
take up the sword. He recounts his exploits in one of the
most curious documents which have come down to us from
those times.

"Relacion hecha por Caspar de Espinosa, alcalde mayor
de Castilla del Oro, dada a Pedrarias de Avila, lugar terri-
ente general de aquellos provincias, de todo loque le se cedo
en la entrada que hizo en ellos, de orden de Pedrdrias."

In verbose legal phraseology he tells of his adventures;
he gives great space to the proceedings of his drum-head
court martial. He did everything with due deference to
the law. He never threw any Indian to the dogs without
having first enacted a statute which justified the execution.
With astounding naivete" he tells of his own villainy, boasts
of treachery and plumes himself over the refinements of tor-
ture which he devised. With unconscious humor he notes
down the important part played in the expedition by his

Espinosa was the first man to ride across the Isthmus.
His home-sick jackass impressed the natives immensely.
When he brayed they fell on their faces in awe. Espinosa —
who had as keen an eye for business as any pirate who ever
visited those parts — told the Indians that this four-foot
demon was asking for gold. The frightened people gave
up their last ornaments — dug up the graves of their ances-
tors— to appease him.

Espinosa, also, boasts of having built the first Christian

Copyright by Underwood & Undenuood.

A CHOLO INDIAN VILLAGE.
Native Girls Pounding Rice.

PEDEAEIAS 221

church on the Pacific, near Chame* Point. In the midst of
their worst deviltry they paused now and then to worship
God.

From this place Barthome" Hurtado, with a hundred men,
coasted westward in native canoes as far as the Gulf of
Nicaya, within the present borders of Costa Rica. As his
force was small and he was far from assistance, he treated
the natives with respect and was everywhere hospitably
received.

On his return, early in 1517, he found Espinosa building
a fort at Panama. The historian Herrera estimates that the
spoil collected on this trip — in which of course is included
the tribute the Indians paid to quiet the braying of the
jackass — amounted to 80,000 pesos del oro and 2,000 slaves.

"During Espinosa's absence in the south," Bancroft
writes, "affairs at Antigua were exceptionally dull. The
illness of the governor, unfortunately, was not fatal."

Every boat sailing for Spain carried a letter from Vasco
Nunez to the king, telling of all the governor's misdeeds —
it was a long list — and how surely the colony was going to
the dogs. As long as possible the Bishop of Fonseca pre-
vented the king from rewarding Balboa, and when at last
he could delay action no longer, he still managed to protect
his creature, Pedrarias.

Early in 1515 royal despatches arrived in Santa Maria
which created Vasco Nunez "Captain General of the Prov-
inces of Coiba (Careta) and Panama", and Adelantado of
the Southern Sea" — an empty honor, as the Governor of
Castilla del Oro would still be his superior. These honors
only made Pedrarias more venomous. He had the audacity
to suppress them. How long he held up the royal order it
is now impossible to determine. But at last the Bishop of
Darien, Quevedo, heard of them and forced their publica-
tion.

222 PANAMA

Angrier than ever, Pedrarias found one excuse after an-
other to keep Vasco Nunez inactive. He would not even
give the new Captain-general permission to visit his prov-
inces. The Bishop Quevedo came once more to the rescue.
He impressed on the old man the impossibility of forever
preserving this deadlock. Vasco Nunez was too popular to
be forever kept in the shade. Sooner or later the king would
interfere and it could only be to the governor's disadvantage,
very probably to his disgrace. How much better to have
this powerful and active man for a friend! Why not make
a son-in-law of him? Pedrarias had several daughters.
After much urging from the bishop, the old governor, with
very ill grace we may be sure, assented to this alliance.
What Balboa thought of it, we can only guess. It offered
him a chance at action. At worst the daughter of Pedrarias
was a long way off. It would be months before she could
arrive.

Towards the middle of 1516, this peace patched up with
Pedrarias, we find Vasco Nunez at Acla, preparing an expe-
dition to seek further into the mystery of the Southern Sea.
The town founded by Pedrarias had been destroyed by the
Indians. Balboa had to rebuild it, for it was his plan to
build ships there and transport them across the Isthmus in
sections. It was an undertaking worthy of his great genius.
If it had been a daring enterprise to cross to the Pacific the
first time, it was indeed desperate, now that all the tribes
were implacably hostile, to try to transport so large a
caravan.

"No living man in all the Indies/' Herrera wrote, "dared
attempt such an enterprise, or would have succeeded at it,
save Vasco Nunez de Balboa."

Early in 1517 he was ready to start. Within six months
he had rebuilt the town, established ship-yards and put
together four brigantines. But if we can admire the cour-

PEDEAEIAS 223

age of the man in conceiving and executing so great a plan,
we cannot this time follow Vasco Nunez across the Isthmus
with the same hearty sympathy. It is interesting to specu-
late on how different a manner the enterprise would have
been carried through, if the satelites of Pedrarias had not
made all peaceful intercourse with the natives impossible.
It is possible to excuse Balboa much under the circum-
stances— but this expedition left a long trail of skeletons.
The heavy carrying was done by natives, no longer allies,
but slaves. "More than 500 Indians perished in the trans-
portation of these ships," the Bishop of Darien reported.
Las Casas, probably much nearer the truth, puts the number
at 2,000.

Saddest of all, this hecatomb was useless. When the
Spaniards tried to put their ships together on the Pacific
side, they found that the timbers were honeycombed with
borings of the ship worm.

It was necessary to begin all over again. New ship-yards
had to be built on an estuary of the Gulf of San Miguel.
Instead of being the honored guests of the natives, as Bal-
boa's men had been on the first expedition, they had to
protect themselves with stockades and were smitten with
famine in this war-swept land.

"In all labors," wrote Las Casas, "Vasco Nunez took the
foremost part, working with his own hands and giving aid
and encouragement to all." Later, with his ever-ready
sympathy for the oppressed, the good monk adds: "When
Vasco Nunez himself was forced to feed on roots, it may well
be imagined to what extremity the six hundred Indian cap-
tives were reduced."

But at last, conquering all hardships and difficulties, his
hands red with the blood of the natives, Balboa was able to
launch two brigantines and sail out on the unknown sea he
had discovered. He made his headquarters on the Isla

224 PANAMA

Rica, as he had christened the largest of the Pearl group.
There he built two more brigantines and with his little fleet
of four he started out to find and conquer the rich land to
the south. Once more it must have seemed that the Fates
were smiling. He had a royal commission to govern all the
nations he might discover on this ocean. There was yet
a chance to win and justly rule a great vice-royalty, free
from the murderous interference of men like his prospective
father-in-law.

But these first navigators of this unknown sea had not
learned its currents, its seasons and prevailing winds. Vasco
Nunez started on this expedition at the worst time of year.
After beating about for many days and making not more
than twenty leagues beyond the Gulf of San Miguel, he was
forced by adverse winds to put back to the Isla Rica. At
his headquarters he found messengers with a rumor that a
new governor had been appointed for Castillo del Oro in
place of Pedrarias.

It is impossible to say what Vasco Nunez thought of the
new situation. It seems hardly credible that the idea of
refusing obedience to anyone who should try to stop him
would not have come to one who had waited so long for an
opportunity. How far he harbored the idea, how far he
may have discussed the possibility with trusted friends, we
do not know. But he does not seem to have distrusted
Pedrarias nor to have feared his interference.

He needed provisions, and he sent some of his men over
to Santa Maria with instructions to approach the village
stealthily; if they found Pedrarias still in power they were
to enter boldly and ask for what was needed. If, however,
they found a new governor had arrived, they were to find
out as much as they could about his intentions without let-
ting him know of their presence and return to Isla Rica
without having entered the town. This would give Vasco

PEDEAEIAS 225

Nunez the chance, if the new governor was hostile, to slip
anchor and make a bold dash for fame before an order for
his recall could reach him.

It is of course impossible to measure the intentions of a
man so long dead, but there has been preserved no evidence
to show that Vasco Nunez had meditated treason against
Pedrarias.

But he had made many enemies. It is probable that
Pizarro and many of his old comrades who had deserted
him to join the faction of Pedrarias were mightily disturbed
at the reconciliation which the Bishop of Darien had ef-
fected. And besides these political enemies there were
those who harbored a personal grudge. One of the men
whom Vasco Nunez sent over on this mission to Santa
Maria was one of these. He had desired the beautiful
daughter of Careta, who was Balboa's mistress. She had
complained of his advances and the man had been warned
to desist. This jealous wretch concocted a story of a deep
and dark conspiracy to throw off allegiance from king and
governor and establish an independent empire in the South-
ern Sea. He based his accusation on some scraps of conver-
sation which a sentry before Balboa's door had overheard
one night, when a shower had given him excuse to crowd
close to the wattel wall and eavesdrop.

Arrived in Santa Maria, finding Pedrarias still in power,
this man retailed his suspicions to the enemies of Vasco
Nunez. The informer was afraid to make an open accusa-
tion, so the gang arranged to have him arrested and forced
to " confess." The story was infected with just those drops
of venom most likely to enrage Pedrarias — to wound his
pride. It was said that Balboa openly made sport of him
and his daughter. His love for his Indian bride was said
to be his motive for cutting loose from his allegiance. Noth-
ing which they could think of to stir the old man's anger

226 PANAMA

did they neglect. Suspicious, as are all tyrants, he was not
hard to convince. Age seemed to increase the viciousness
of Pedrarias. So brutal and miserly had he become that
the Bishop of Darien, he of the itching palm, had reached
the end of his large tolerance and had gone to Spain to lay
complaints before the throne.

Pedrarias sent a loving letter to his dear son-in-law,
saying that he needed his counsel in some grave matters
and begging him to come to Santa Maria, before sailing.
That Vasco Nunez fell into the trap and came, is strong
evidence that his conscience was clear of any meditated
treachery to the old man. As he came within sight of
Acla, he was met by a body of soldiers under Francisco
Pizarro and put under arrest. For a few days the comedy
of a trial was performed in Acla and then a decree of death
against Balboa and three of his friends cleared the stage for
tragedy.

"It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla," Irving wrote,
"when Vasco Nunez and his companions were led forth to
execution. The populace were moved to tears at the un-
happy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds had excited their
admiration, and whose generous qualities had won their
hearts. Most of them regarded him as the victim of a
jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him guilty,
saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime im-
puted to him. Such, however, was the general dread in-
spired by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one
dared to lift up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance.

"The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, proclaim-
ing: 'This is the punishment inflicted by command of the
king and his lieutenant, Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man
as a traitor and an usurper of the territories of the crown.'

"When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he exclaimed
indignantly, 'It is false! Never did such a crime enter my

PEDRABIAS 227

mind. I have ever served my king with truth and loyalty,
and sought to augment his dominions.'

" These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they
were fully believed by the populace.

"The execution took place in the public square of Acla;
and we are assured by the historian Oviedo, who was in the
colony at the time, that the cruel Pedrarias was a secret
witness of the bloody spectacle; which he contemplated
from between the reeds of the wall of a house about twelve
paces from the scaffold!

"Vasco Nunez was the first to suffer death. Having con-
fessed himself and partaken of the sacrament, he ascended
the scaffold with a firm step and a calm and manly de-
meanor; and, laying his head upon the block, it was severed
in an instant from his body. Three of his officers, Valderra-
bona, Botello, and Hernan Munos, were in like manner
brought one by one to the block, and the day had nearly
expired before the last of them was executed."

Peter Martyr philosophically remarks: "And this is the
rewarde wherewith the blynde goddesse oftentymes recom-
penseth such as haue suteyned great trauayls and daungiours
to bee hyghly in her fauoure."

The rest of the story of Don Pedro Arias de Avila is, like
what has gone before, a record of treacherous villainy and
inhuman cruelties. No sooner was Vasco Nunez out of the
way than he committed the identical crime for which his
victim had been unjustly executed. Knowing that in the
face of the accusation being brought against him by Oviedo,
Las Casas and Quevedo, his friend the bishop, Fonseca,
could not protect him much longer, he abandoned the north
coast of the Isthmus and tried to establish himself on the
South Sea. He made his headquarters at Panama, which
was rapidly becoming a centre of population.

In May, 1520, Lope de Sosa, the man sent out to replace

228 PANAMA

him, arrived in the harbor of Santa Maria, but died before
landing. This gave Pedrarias a new lease of power.

On September 15, 1521, Panama was given a royal charter
and the bishopric was transferred from Santa Maria. The
Fray Vincente de Peraza, the second Bishop of Panama, was
poisoned by Pedrarias very shortly after his arrival. But as
things began to get too hot for him in the "muy Noble y
muy Leal Ciudad de Panama," Pedrarias changed his base
to Nicaragua. When Pedro de los Rios, the next governor,
arrived in Panama on July 30th, 1526, the bird had flown.

Fortunately we do not have to follow his bloody career
after he left the Isthmus. He came back once in 1527 and
again we hear of him in a characteristic manner. The
Council of Panama gave him permission to open a slave-
market in that city to dispose of the captives he was making
in Nicaragua.

He died in July, 1530 — unhung.

CHAPTER XV

THE CONQUEST OF PERU

IT has been said that the Isthmus is more renowned for
those who have crossed it than for those who have lived
there. Certainly its greatest claim for fame is that it was
the outfitting station for the discovery and conquest of Peru.
No other event so deeply affected its history.

Vasco Nunez had dreamed of this achievement. His
ambition had been cheated by the axe of Pedrarias. But
his death only postponed the exploration of the Southern Sea
— only transferred to less worthy hands the great task of
conquest.

Very shortly after establishing himself on the Pacific,
Pedrarias sent out an expedition under the command of a
cavalier named Pascual de Andagoya. But this officer fell
sick and was forced to return before he had passed the twenty
league mark of exploration fixed by Balboa.

Peru existed in the minds of men only as a rumor. The
Spaniards had received just as glowing accounts from the
natives of the Golden Temple of Dabaiba. It was as unreal
an El Dorado as was Ponce* de Leon's "Fountain of Perpetual
Youth." The Spaniards were decidedly sick of such ven-
tures. The Aurea Chersoneus which Columbus had de-
scribed so alluringly had led them to the death trap of
Nombre de Dios. This "Castilla del Oro" had proven to
be built as much of hardships, famines and fevers, as of gold.
There was doubtless many a colonist of Panama, eking out
a meagre living from their Indian slaves — they died with

229

230 PANAMA

such discouraging rapidity — who felt that they would have
been much better off at home. Mexico had not yet been dis-
covered. Prescott expresses surprise that the southern
explorations were so long delayed. It seems more wonder-
ful to me that they were attempted. Nothing but the un-
conquerable romance of the age could have kept alive faith
in cities of gold.

However, Francisco Pizarro kept in mind the stories he
had heard from the Cacique of the Pearl Islands, and when
in 1524 the news of the rich kingdom subdued by Cortez
reached Panama, he was able to draw two of the colonists
into his scheme. Prescott gives the following characteriza-
tion of the three men:

"On the removal of the seat of government across the
Isthmus to Panama, Pizarro accompanied Pedrarias, and
his name became conspicuous among the cavaliers who
extended the line of conquest to the north, over the martial
tribes of Veragua. But all these expeditions, whatever glory
they may have brought him, were productive of very little
gold; and at the age of fifty, the captain Pizarro found him-
self in possession only of a tract of unhealthy land in the
neighborhood of the capital, and of such repartimientos of the
natives as were deemed suited to his military services. The
New World was a lottery, where the great prizes were so
few that the odds were much against the player; yet in the
game he was content to stake health, fortune, and too often,
his fair fame.

"There is no evidence that Pizarro showed any particular
alacrity in the cause. Nor were his own funds such as to
warrant any expectation of success without great assistance
from others. He found this in two individuals of the colony,
who took too important a part in the subsequent transactions
not to be particularly noticed.

"One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune,

THE CONQUEST OF PEEU 231

somewhat older, it seems probable, than Pizarro; though
little is known of his birth, and even the place of it is dis-
puted. . . . Few particulars are known of him till the
present period of our history; for he was one of those whom
the working of turbulent times first throws upon the surface,
less fortunate, perhaps, than if left in their original obscurity.
In his military career, Almagro had earned the reputation
of a gallant soldier. He was frank and liberal in his disposi-
tion, somewhat hasty and ungovernable in his passions, but
like men of a sanguine temperament, after the first sallies
had passed away, not difficult to be appeased. . . .

"The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de
Luque, a Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions
of vicar at Panama, and had formerly filled the office of
schoolmaster in the Cathedral of Darien. He seems to have
been a man of singular prudence and knowledge of the world;
and by his respectable qualities had acquired considerable
influence in the little community to which he belonged, as
well as the control of funds, which made his cooperation
essential to the success of the present enterprise. . . .

"The associates found no difficulty in obtaining the con-
sent of the governor to their undertaking. . . . He was
probably not displeased that the burden of the enterprise
should be borne by others, so long as a good share of the
profits went into his own coffers. This he did not overlook
in his stipulations."

There is some dispute as to what bargain Pedrarias drove
with the three adventurers, but the weight of evidence is
that he held them up for one fourth of the profits in con-
sideration of his passive consent. It is also generally agreed
that Father Luque was acting in the matter as agent for
Gaspar de Espinosa, the Alcade Mayor, who had won fame
by riding an ass and by his barbaric cruelties.

No sooner had these preliminary arrangements been com-

232 PANAMA

pleted than the three confederates began operations. With
the money furnished by Luque they bought and equipped
two small ships. One of them was the brigantine which
Vasco Nunez had built for the same undertaking. They had
much difficulty in enlisting men for the expedition. So
little sympathy had the people of Panama for the Peruvian
venture that they made the vicar the butt of a rather weak
pun, calling him "Padre Luque o loco." "Loco" being
the Spanish word for madman. But at length they mustered
a hundred men — the refuse of the colony — to go with
Pizarro on the first ship.

It was not necessary to follow the well-known adventures
of Pizarro in detail, but rather to recount the part which
Panama played in the great adventure. It was a decidedly
sorry part. What little help the colony gave to the enter-
prise was given grudgingly. Almagro could only find seventy
men willing to sail on the supporting expedition.

Pizarro and Almagro soon reached the end of their re-
sources and turned back. To return to Panama meant the
disbanding of the little force they had already collected.
So Almagro went back alone to see if he could make some
satisfactory arrangements with the governor. But he found
Pedrarias suddenly turned hostile to the scheme. He was
himself fitting out an expedition for a venture in Nicaragua
and at first he would not countenance any further recruiting
for the south. In fact so little did he think of the Peruvian
enterprise that, needing ready money for his own plans,
he sold out his original interest in the combine for one
thousand pesos in gold. The old miser was so pleased with
this sharp bargain that he relented and removed his pro-
hibition on recruiting. Pizarro now came to Panama and
the three partners drew up the famous contract of which
Prescott gives this description :

"The instrument, after invoking in the most solemn

THE CONQUEST OF PERU 233

manner the names of the Holy Trinity and our Lady the
Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that whereas the parties have full
authority to discover and subdue the countries and provinces
lying south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of Peru, and
as Fernando de Luque had advanced the funds for the en-
terprise in bars of gold of the value of twenty thousand
pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide equally among
them the whole of the conquered territory. . . .

"The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves
exclusively to the present undertaking until it is accom-
plished; . . .

"The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in
the name of God and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep
this covenant, swearing it on the missal, on which they
traced with their own hands the sacred emblem of the cross.
To give still greater efficacy to the compact, Father Luque
administered the sacrament to the parties, dividing the
consecrated wafer into three portions, of which each one of
them partook; while the bystanders, says an historian, were
affected to tears by this spectacle of the solemn ceremonial
with which these men voluntarily devoted themselves to a
sacrifice that seemed little short of insanity.

"The instrument, which was dated March 10, 1526, was
subscribed by Luque, and attested by three respectable
citizens of Panama, one of whom signed on behalf of Pizarro,
and the other for Almagro; since neither of these parties,
according to the avowal of the instrument, was able to sub-
scribe his own name.

"Such was the singular compact by which three obscure
individuals coolly carved out and partitioned among them-
selves an empire, of whose extent, power, and resources, of
whose situation, of whose existence, even, they had no sure
or precise knowledge. The positive and unhesitating man-
ner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire, of

234 PANAMA

its stores of wealth, . . . forms a striking contrast with
the general scepticism and indifference manifested by nearly
every other person, high and low, in the community of
Panama."

Two larger vessels were now procured and a poster put up
which asked for volunteers for the expedition. But the idea
was no more popular among the sceptical citizens of Panama
than it had been at first. With the most lurid promises they
were only able to raise their force to one hundred and sixty
men. This time they sailed directly south to the Rio de
San Juan, the limit of Almagro's first voyage. Here they
landed, and although yet far from the domains of the Inca,
they found the natives wearing gold ornaments and secured
a large booty. Pizarro, with most of the men, started to
explore the interior, Bartholome Ruiz, their pilot, cruised
south in the larger boat and Almagro returned to Panama
with the booty, to secure if possible more recruits.

At Panama he found a new governor, Don Pedro de los
Rios. Pedrarias, taking with him everything which was
not nailed down, had emigrated to Nicaragua, where he
would be a little further removed from royal justice. De los
Rios had been especially instructed to push forward the
exploration of the Southern Sea, so he gave Almagro every
encouragement. Eighty men who had come out in the
retinue of the new governor volunteered to accompany him.
The older and more experienced colonists laughed up their
sleeves at the way in which these "greenhorns," fresh from
Spain, allowed themselves to be lured into so barren an
adventure.

Meanwhile Ruiz had sailed south half a degree beyond the
equator, being the first European to cross it in those waters.
But of much greater importance was his encounter with a
native boat, " balsa" or raft the Spaniards called it. It
was the first boat equipped with sails which they had seen.

THE CONQUEST OF PERU 235

Aboard it were some merchants from the Peruvian town of
Tumbez. The Spaniards were immensely impressed by the
signs of civilization; cloth woven from the wool of llamas,
and wonder of wonders, a balance for weighing gold! Ruiz
kidnapped the Peruvians, with the intention of training them
as interpreters, and sailed back to join Pizarro. He found
his commander reduced to the last extremity from the in-
hospitality of the country and the fierce hostility of the
Indians.

Shortly after his return, Almagro arrived with the new
recruits. The united forces now started down the coast
explored by Ruiz. Everywhere they encountered increasing
evidences of a high civilization and of a formidable enemy.
It became evident that they would need a much larger army
to hope for success in this country.

Again it was decided to send Almagro back to Panama for
reenforcements. Pizarro was to winter his little army on
the Island of Gallo. This plan met with serious opposition
from the men. Those who had experienced the hardships of
waiting with Pizarro were if anything less indignant than
the raw recruits from Spain. They were more than sick
of the continual buffeting of the waves. They had come
out to the New World in quest of romantic adventure and
easily-acquired gold. This island offered little prospect of
booty, very little of food. They all clamored for a return.
But the leaders foresaw that such a course would mean the
collapse of the whole undertaking. So Almagro sailed away.
But not before one of the discontented soldiers, named
Sarobia, had smuggled a letter aboard done up in a ball of
cotton — a curiosity in the New World — which, as a speci-
men of the riches of the country, was to be given to the wife
of the governor. Prescott gives this description of the inci-
dent:

"The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected

236 PANAMA

soldiery besides the writer, painted in gloomy colors the
miseries of their condition, accused the two commanders of
being the authors of this, and called on the authorities of
Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to take them from
the desolate spot. . . . The epistle concluded with a
stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners
in a slaughter-house; one being employed to drive in the
cattle for the other to butcher. The verses, which had a
currency in their day among the colonies to which they were
certainly not entitled by their poetical merits, may be thus
rendered into corresponding doggerel:

Look out, senor Governor,
For the drover while he's near ;
Since he goes home to get the sheep
For the butcher, who stays here.

"Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of
Almagro and his followers in the little community of Panama;
for the letter, surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton,
fell into the hands for which it was intended, and the con-
tents soon got abroad with the usual quantity of exaggeration.
The haggard and dejected mien of the adventurers, of itself,
told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was soon generally
believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition
were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days
with their disappointed leader on his desolate island.

"Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at
the result of the expedition, and the waste of life it had
occasioned to the colony, that he turned a deaf ear to all
the applications of Luque and Almagro for further coun-
tenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations
of the future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the
isle of Gallo, with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom
he should find still living in that dreary abode. Two vessels

THE CONQUEST OF PEBU 237

were immediately dispatched for the purpose, and placed un-
der charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of Cordova."

The arrival of Tafur at the Island of Gallo was the turning
point in the career of Pizarro. If he had faltered some one
else's name would have come down to us as that of the
conqueror of Peru. But of all Pizarro's characteristics the
ability to hang on was the most salient. It was never more
surely demonstrated than during this crisis. It was just
such incidents as this which especially appealed to the school
of romantic historians of which Prescott was so notable an
example. It furnishes him with a text for one of his most
eloquent passages:

"Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand
from east to west. Then turning toward the south, ' Friends
and comrades!' he said, 'on that side are toil, hunger, naked-
ness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; on this side,
ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here,
Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best be-
comes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.'
So saying, he stepped across the line. He was followed by
the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro de Candia, a cavalier,
born, as his name imparts, in one of the isles of Greece.
Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating
their willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for
good or for evil. Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language
of an ancient chronicler, has commemorated the names of
this little band, 'who thus, in the face of difficulties un-
exampled in history, with death rather than riches for their
reward, preferred it all to abandoning their honor, and stood
firm by their leader as an example of loyalty to future ages.' "

Pizarro and his devoted band of thirteen had a desperate
period of waiting. " Meanwhile," Prescott continues, "the
vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama. The
tidings which she brought of the inflexible obstinacy of

238 PANAMA

Pizarro and his followers filled the governor with indignation.
He could look on it in no other light than as an act of suicide,
and steadily refused to send further assistance to men who
were obstinately bent on their own destruction. Yet Luque
and Almagro were true to their engagements. They repre-
sented to the governor, that if the conduct of their comrade
was rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown, and in
prosecuting the great work of discovery. Rios had been
instructed on his taking the government, to aid Pizarro in
the enterprise; and to desert him now would be to throw
away the remaining chance of success, and to incur the
responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who
adhered to him. These remonstrances at length so far
operated on the mind of that functionary, that he reluctantly
consented that a vessel should be sent to the island of Gor-
gona, but with no more hands than were necessary to work
her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in
six months and report himself at Panama, whatever might
be the future results of his expedition.

"Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the
two associates lost no time in fitting out a small vessel with
stores and a supply of arms and ammunition, and dispatched
it to the island. And although, when the vessel anchored
off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought
no additional recruits for the enterprise, yet he greeted it
with joy, as affording the means of solving the great problem
of the existence of the rich southern empire, and of thus
opening the way for its future conquest."

In due course of time they arrived at Tumbez and, being
so few, were polite, and so were hospitably received. Once
more I will turn the narrative over to Prescott :

"As they drew near, they beheld a town of considerable
size, with many of the buildings apparently of stone and
plaster, situated in the bosom of a fruitful meadow, which

THE CONQUEST OF PEEU 239

seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility of the
surrounding country by careful and minute irrigation. When
at some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing toward
him several large balsas. Running alongside of the Indian
flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his
vessel. The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object
which met their eyes, and especially on their own country-
men, whom they had little expected to meet there. The
latter informed them in what manner they had fallen into
the hands of the strangers, whom they described as a won-
derful race of beings, that had come thither for no harm,
but solely to be made acquainted with the country and its
inhabitants. This account was confirmed by the Spanish
commander, who persuaded the Indians to return in their
balsas and report what they had learned to their towns-
men, requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel
with refreshments, as it was his desire to enter into a friendly
intercourse with the natives.

"The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and
were gazing with unutterable amazement on the floating
castle, which, now having dropped anchor, rode lazily at its
moorings in their bay. They eagerly listened to the accounts
of their countrymen, and instantly reported the affair to the
curaca or ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the
strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at
once to comply with their request. It was not long before
several balsas were seen steering for the vessel laden with
bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, pine-
apples, cocoanuts, and other rich products of the bountiful
vale of Tumbez. . . .

"On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of
his own men, named Alonso de Molina, on shore. . . .
Toward evening his emissary returned with a fresh supply of
fruit and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the

240 PANAMA

vessel. Molina had a wondrous tale to tell. On landing,
he was surrounded by the natives, who expressed the greatest
astonishment at his dress, his fair complexion and his long
beard.

"Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca,
whom he found living in much state, with porters stationed
at his doors, and with a quantity of gold and silver vessels
from which he was served. He was then taken to different
parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of rough stone,
and though low, spreading over a large extent of ground.
Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its
decorations, blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extrava-
gant, that Pizarro, distrusting his whole account, resolved
to send a more discreet and trustworthy emissary on the fol-
lowing day."

After spending several days at Tumbez, they continued
their cruise to nine degrees south and then having "spied
out the land" they turned north.

"On leaving Tumbez on their return voyages," writes
Prescott, "the adventurers steered directly for Panama
. . . and, after an absence of at least eighteen months,
found themselves once more safely riding at anchor in the
harbor of Panama.

"The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might
have been expected. For there were few even among the
most sanguine of their friends, who did not imagine that
they had long since paid for their temerity, and fallen victims
to the climate or the natives, or miserably perished in a
watery grave. Their joy was proportionably great, there-
fore, as they saw the wanderers now returned, not only in
health and safety, but with certain tidings of the fair countries
which had so long eluded their grasp. It was a moment of
proud satisfaction to the three associates, who, in spite of
obloquy, derision, and every impediment which the distrust

THE CONQUEST OF PERU 241

of friends or the coldness of government could throw in their
way, had persevered in their great enterprise until they had
established the truth of what had been so generally de-
nounced as a chimera. . . .

"Yet the governor, Pedro de los Rios, did not seem, even
at this moment, to be possessed with a conviction of the
magnitude of the discovery, or, perhaps, he was discouraged
by its very magnitude. When the associates, now with more
confidence, applied to him for patronage in an undertaking
too vast for their individual resources, he coldly replied,
'He had no desire to build up other estates at the expense
of his own: nor would he be led to throw away more lives than
had already been sacrificed by the cheap display of gold and
silver toys and a few Indian sheep ! "J

They had no recourse from this rebuff except an appeal to
Caesar. So Pizarro set out for Spain. It is typical of the
times that no one of the three confederates trusted the others.
They made Pizarro bind himself with endless oaths not to
play them false. It was a useless precaution.

He arrived in Spain in 1528 and one of the first familiar
faces he encountered was that of the Bachelor Enciso. He
promptly clapped Pizarro in prison for a debt dating back
to the early days of Santa Maria de la Antigua. However,
Charles V, hearing of his arrival, ordered his liberation and
directed him to come at once to court. Here he found his
kinsman, Hernand Cortes, freshly returned from the con-
quest of Mexico.

Pizarro's reception at court was enthusiastic. He was
granted ample authority to pursue his adventure and was
created Governor, Captain-General, Adelantado and Alguacil
Mayor of the new realm, with a salary of 725,000 maravedis.
An elaborate contract called "The Capitulation" was drawn
up between him and the crown. It is dated July 29, 1529.

Pizarro visited his native town of Truxillo and gathered

242 PANAMA

up his brothers, three of whom, like himself, were illegitimate.
Oviedo says of them, "They were all poor, and as proud as
poor, and their greed for gain was in proportion to their
penury." They proved to be a very fruitful source of
trouble in the New World.

In January, 1530, with less than one hundred and fifty
men, Pizarro sailed from Spain. He arrived safely at Nombre
de Dios where he found his two associates waiting for him.
Their indignation was immense when they heard the terms of
the capitulation. In spite of his solemn promises to deal
justly with them, Pizarro had monopolized all the fat offices.
To be sure, Luque got what he wanted, the bishopric of
Tumbez, and the title of "Protector of the Indians of Peru."
An illiterate soldier like Pizarro could scarcely ask for
ecclesiastical offices. But there was nothing left for Almagro
except command of the fortress of Tumbez with a salary of
300,000 maravedis and the rank of "hidalgo." However,
the quarrel was at last patched up, at least outwardly, and
they passed over to Panama.

"No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage," writes
Prescott. "It found little encouragement, however, among
the colonists of Panama, who were too familiar with the
sufferings on the former expeditions to care to undertake
another, even with the rich bribe that was held out to allure
them. A few of the old company were content to follow out
the adventure to its close; and some additional stragglers
collected from the province of Nicaragua. . . . But
Pizarro made slender additions to the force brought over
with him from Spain, though this body was in better con-
dition, and in respect to arms, ammunition, and equipment
generally, was on a much better footing than his former levies.
The whole number did not exceed one hundred and eighty
men, with twenty-seven horses for the cavalry. . . .

"On St. John the Evangelist's day, the banners of the

TEE CONQUEST OF PERU 243

company and the royal standard were consecrated in the
cathedral church of Panama; a sermon was preached before
the little army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one of the Domini-
cans selected by the government for the Peruvian mission;
and mass was performed, and the sacrament administered
to every soldier previous to his engaging in the crusade
against the infidel."

The little fleet sailed from the roadstead of Panama early
in January, 1531. Very few of the hundred and eighty men
ever came back to Panama, but hundreds and thousands of
men left Panama to follow their sea trail.

Shortly afterward, Hernando de Soto, who was later to
discover the Mississippi, set out with a hundred men and
some horses to support Pizarro. A year later Almagro sailed
with a hundred and fifty men. And then for many months
the people of Panama heard no more of Peru. They went
about their petty round of slave driving and as the weeks
slipped by with no news, they began again to poke fun at
the crazy Padre Luque.

A little more than a year after Almagro had sailed, in 1533,
the lookouts descried some ships beating up from the south.
Altogether, in the three installments, eight ships had gone
down the coast. There were only two coming back. One
can imagine how the populace crowded down to the beach,
how the professional skeptics must have said, "I told you so."
How worried the Father Luque must have been.

Hernando Pizarro was on board. He was bringing the
King's fifth of the Inca's ransom. Sefior Clemencin, of the
Royal Academy of History at Madrid, made a deep study
of the relative value of Spanish currency at the time of the
discovery and our own money. According to his estimate,
the 1,326,539 pesos of gold to which the Inca's ransom
amounted would weigh almost as much as $4,000,000 in
modern gold, and have a purchasing value in those days

244 PANAMA

equal to four times as much. Besides the King's fifth, Her-
nando Pizarro had with him about $6,000,000 belonging to
individuals.

The effect of all this wealth on Panama was tremendous.
No one called Luque "loco" any more. Everyone cursed
themselves that they had remained scoffing at home. Ex-
cept for the strenuous efforts of the governor the colony
would have been depopulated. The tide had definitely turn-
ed southward. Ship after ship carried hungry adventurers
down the coast.

Hernando Pizarro proceeded to Spain. He arrived in
Seville in January, 1534. His appearance created an im-
mense sensation.

"In a short time," Prescott writes, "that cavalier saw
himself at the head of one of the most numerous and well-
appointed armaments, probably, that had left the shores
of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of
Ferdinand and Isabella. It was scarcely more fortunate
than this. Hardly had Hernando put to sea, when a violent
tempest fell on the squadron, and compelled him to return
to port and refit. At length he crossed the ocean, and
reached the little harbor of Nombre de Dios in safety. But
no preparations had been made for his coming, and, as he was
detained here some time before he could pass the mountains,
his company suffered greatly from scarcity of food. In their
extremity the most unwholesome articles were greedily
devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little savings to
procure himself a miserable subsistence. Disease, as usual,
trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the un-
fortunate adventurers, sinking under the unaccustomed heats
of the climate, perished on the very threshold of discovery."

But the passage of Hernando Pizarro, on his way to Spain
with this immense wealth, had an even greater effect on the
towns of Nombre de Dios and Panama. The Isthmus had

THE CONQUEST OF PERU 245

become a thoroughfare. Not only were the riches of the Incas
greater than those of Mexico, but also more enduring. Even
after the country had been glutted of its ready wrought
gold and silver, the slave-worked mines continued to produce
rich returns. Of all this wealth crossing the Isthmus some
of course stuck by the way. The rapid rush of immigrants,
the growing trade, forced the development of industry.
Ships had to be built, armor made and repaired, expeditions
outfitted. Panama had a boom !

Civil war soon broke out in Peru. The long-standing feud
between Francisco Pizarro and Almagro came to an issue.
Almagro was executed on a rather slender case of treason.
His followers rallied about his half-breed son Diego and they
in time assassinated Francisco Pizarro. A new, and on
the whole, able governor, Vasco de Castro, arrived in 1541,
but he was soon succeeded by a blunderer named Vasco
Nunez Vela, who was sent out to enforce the "new laws"
in defence of the natives which had been proclaimed by the
throne on the instance of Las Casas.

Vasco Nunez Vela, the governor who was sent out to
administer them, was a stupid man, a martinet of violent
temper. Almost as soon as he arrived in Peru, he developed a
suspicious temper, throwing his predecessor de Castro into
prison and very shortly murdering with his own hand a very
popular and apparently upright man named Suarez de Car-
bajal. This and other acts of senseless tyranny soon made
him insupportable and he was thrown into prison by the
Audiencia, or judicial body, after an informal impeachment.
The judges then pronounced Gonzalo Pizarro, a brother of
Francisco, viceroy. Vasco Nunez Vela, escaped from his
captors, rallied a small army and took the field. On January
18, 1546, he was utterly defeated by Pizarro, and being taken
prisoner was beheaded by a negro slave belonging to a brother
of the Carbajal whom he had himself murdered.

246 PANAMA

This victory left Gonzalo Pizarro in control of the vast
empire of Peru. He had a large and seasoned army, the
silver mines of Potosi were bringing him in a revenue which
rivaled that of any European ruler. His large navy gave
him command of the sea, and his admiral, Hinojosa, occupied
the Isthmus. He was indeed in a position which might well
have turned the head of a man less proud and ambitious.
It would have been a bold prophet who would have said that
the King of Spain could send out a strong enough force to
reduce him. First of all such an armament would have
had to cross the Atlantic, then fight its way across the moun-
tain breastworks of the Isthmus. Then it would have had to
build a navy capable of overthrowing Hinojosa, and then at
last meet the flower of Spanish knighthood and desperado-
dom in the almost inaccessible Andes. Any army which
could have fought its way so far in the face of the fevers
would indeed have been remarkable.

However, within two years Gonzalo Pizarro was beheaded
by a legitimate Spanish viceroy. The man who did it was
a priest, Pedro de la Gasca. He was undoubtedly the most
remarkable man who ever crossed the Isthmus.

De la Gasca was born near the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury; he had been educated in the famous university of
Salamanca and had become a member of the Council of the
Inquisition. He was a man of humble exterior, but richly
endowed with quiet, diplomatic tact, of invincible strength
of will and above all, a keen judge of men. He had already
distinguished himself in many delicate situations, in which
he had always managed to secure exactly the outcome desired
by his royal master. He was one of the ablest and most
loyal agents that ever was found by an autocrat.

When, in 1545, Charles V heard of the overthrow of his
governor, Vasco Nunez Vela — the news of his defeat and
death did not come to court until several months later — he

TEE CONQUEST OF PERU 247

realized the impossibility of reducing Peru to obedience by
an armed force and he turned to de la Gasca. Although
past the prime of life, the priest accepted the commission.
He, however, stipulated that he should have absolute
authority to arrange things as he felt best. "For myself,"
he said, "I ask neither salary nor compensation of any
kind. I want no pomp of state nor military force. I
hope to do the work intrusted to me with my breviary and
stole."

Accompanied by Alonso de Alvarado, an officer who had
served under Pizarro and who knew personally most of the
soldiers of Peru, de la Gasca set out from Spain on the 26th
of May, 1546. About the middle of July he arrived off the
coast of the Isthmus.

Hernan Mexia had been put in command of Nombre de
Dios by Gonzalo Pizarro and he had explicit instructions
not to allow any hostile forces from Spain to land. But he
had no orders to exclude a simple priest. The politic course
of this master diplomat, while on the Isthmus, is very ably
described by Prescott :

"The candid and conciliatory language of the president
(delaCasca) . . . made a sensible impression on Mexia.
He admitted the force of Gasca's reasoning, and flattered
himself that Gonzalo Pizarro would not be insensible to it.
Though attached to the fortunes of that leader, he was loyal
in heart, and, like most of the party, had been led by accident,
rather than by design, into rebellion; and now that so good
an opportunity occurred to do it with safety, he was not
unwilling to retrace his steps, and secure the royal favor by
thus early returning to his allegiance. This he signified to
the president, assuring him of his hearty cooperation in the
good work of reform.

"This was an important step for Gasca. It was yet more
important for him to secure the obedience of Hinojosa, the

248 PANAMA

governor of Panama, in the harbor of which city lay Pizarro's
navy, consisting of two-and-twenty vessels. . . .

"The president first sent Mexia and Alonso de Alvarado to
prepare the way for his own coming by advising Hinojosa
of the purport of his mission. He soon after followed, and
was received by that commander with every show of outward
respect. But while the latter listened with deference to
the representations of Gasca, they failed to work the change
in him which they had wrought in Mexia. . . .

"Hinojosa was not satisfied; and he immediately wrote to
Pizarro, acquainting him with Gasca's arrival, and with the
object of his mission, . . . But before the departure
of the ship, Gasca secured the services of a Dominican friar,
who had taken his passage on board for one of the towns on
the coast. This man he intrusted with manifestos, setting
forth the purport of his visit, and proclaiming the abolition
of the ordinances, with a free pardon to all who returned
to their obedience. . . . These papers the Dominican en-
gaged to distribute himself, among the principal cities of the
colony; and he faithfully kept his word, though as it proved
at no little hazard of his life. The seeds thus scattered
might, many of them, fall on barren ground. But the greater
part, the president trusted, would take root in the hearts of
the people; and he patiently waited for the harvest.

"Meanwhile, though he failed to remove the scruples of
Hinojosa, the courteous manners of Gasca, and his mild,
persuasive discourse, had a visible effect on other individuals
with whom he had daily intercourse. Several of these, and
among them some of the principal cavaliers in Panama, as
well as in the squadron, expressed their willingness to join
the royal cause, and aid the president in maintaining it.
. . . He, at length, also prevailed on the governor of
Panama to furnish him with the means of entering into
communication with Gonzalo Pizarro himself; and a ship

TEE CONQUEST OF PEBU 249

was dispatched to Lima, bearing a letter from Charles the
Fifth addressed to that chief, with an epistle also from Gasca.

"The emperor's communication was couched in the most
condescending and even conciliatory terms.

"Gasca's own letter was pitched in the same polite key.
He remarked, however, that the exigencies which had
hitherto determined Gonzalo's line of conduct existed no
longer. All that had been asked was conceded. There was
nothing now to contend for; and it only remained for Pizarro
and his followers to show their loyalty and the sincerity of
their principles by obedience to the crown. Hitherto, the
president said, Pizarro had been in arms against the viceroy;
and the people had supported him as against a common
enemy. If he prolonged the contest, that enemy must be
his sovereign. In such a struggle, the people would be sure
to desert him; and Gasca conjured him, by his honor as a
cavalier, and his duty as a loyal vassal, to respect the royal
authority, and not rashly provoke a contest which must
prove to the world that his conduct hitherto had been dic-
tated less by patriotic motives than by selfish ambition. . .

"Weeks and months rolled away, while the president still
remained at Panama, where, indeed, as his communica-
tions were jealously cut off with Peru, he might be said to
be detained as a sort of prisoner of state. Meanwhile, both
he and Hinojosa were looking with anxiety for the arrival
of some messenger from Pizarro, who should indicate the
manner in which the president's mission was to be received
by that chief. The governor of Panama was not blind to the
perilous position in which he was himself placed, nor to the
madness of provoking a contest with the Court of Castile.
But he had a reluctance, not too often shared by the cavaliers
of Peru, to abandon the fortunes of the commander who had
reposed in him so great confidence. Yet he trusted that this
commander would embrace the opportunity now offered, of

250 PANAMA

placing himself and the country in a state of permanent
security.

"He (Pizarro) learned, with no little uneasiness, from
Hinojosa, of the landing of President Gasca, and the purport
of his mission. But his discontent was mitigated, when he
understood that the new envoy had come without military
array, without any of the ostentatious trappings of office to
impose on the minds of the vulgar, but alone, as it were, in
the plain garb of an humble missionary. Pizarro could not
discern, that under this modest exterior lay a moral power,
stronger than his own steel-clad battalions, which, operating
silently on public opinion, the more sure that it was silent,
was even now undermining his strength, like a subterraneous
channel eating away the foundations of some stately edifice,
that stands secure in its pride of place!

" But, although Gonzalo Pizarro could not foresee this re-
sult, he saw enough to satisfy him that it would be safest to
exclude the president from Peru. The tidings of his arrival,
moreover, quickened his former purpose of sending an em-
bassy to Spain to vindicate his late proceedings, and request
the royal confirmation of his authority. The person placed at
the head of this mission was Lorenzo de Aldana. . . .

"Aldana, fortified with his dispatches, sped swiftly on his
voyage to Panama. Through him the governor learned the
actual state of feeling in the councils of Pizarro; and he
listened with regret to the envoy's conviction, that no terms
would be admitted by that chief or his companions, that
did not confirm him in the possession of Peru.

"Aldana was soon admitted to an audience by the presi-
dent. It was attended with very different results from what
had followed from the conferences with Hinojosa; for Pizarro 's
envoy was not armed by nature with that stubborn panoply
which had hitherto made the other proof against all argu-
ment. He now learned with surprise the nature of Gasca's

THE CONQUEST OF PEEU 251

powers, and the extent of the royal concessions to the in-
surgents. He had embarked with Gonzalo Pizarro on a
desperate venture, and he found that it had proved successful.
The colony had nothing more, in reason, to demand; and,
though devoted in heart to his leader, he did not feel bound
by any principle of honor to take part with him, solely to
gratify his ambition, in a wild contest with the Crown that
must end in inevitable ruin. He consequently abandoned
his mission to Castile, * . . and announced his purpose to
accept the pardon proffered by the government, and support
the president in settling the affairs of Peru. He subsequently
wrote, it should be added, to his former commander in Lima,
stating the course he had taken, and earnestly recommending
the latter to follow his example.

"The influence of this precedent in so important a person
as Aldana, aided, doubtless, by the conviction that no change
was now to be expected in Pizarro, while delay would be
fatal to himself, at length prevailed over Hinojosa's scruples,
and he intimated to Gasca his willingness to place the fleet
under his command. The act was performed with great
pomp and ceremony. ... On the 19th of November,
1546, Hinojosa and his captains resigned their commissions
into the hands of the president. They next took the oaths
of allegiance to Castile; a free pardon for all past offences was
proclaimed by the herald from the scaffold erected in the
great square of the city; and the president, greeting them as
true and loyal vassals of the Crown, restored their several
commissions to the cavaliers. The royal standard of Spain
was then unfurled on board the squadron, and proclaimed
that the stronghold of Pizarro's power had passed away from
him forever."

The rest was easy. The fleet sailed down to Peru. De
la Gasca, by the same arguments, the same appeal to the
inherent loyalty of the Spanish cavaliers, won over one of

252 PANAMA

Pizarro's allies after another. When the time was ripe and
his forces strong enough he laid aside his conciliatory manner
and took the field.

On the 8th of April, 1548, the Royalist and Rebel armies
met at Xaquixaguana. Half of Pizarro's men threw down
their arms at the last moment and went over to de la Gasca.
The rest were utterly defeated. Within a few days Gonzalo
Pizarro and his principal general, Carbajal, were beheaded.

Prescott sums up the character of de la Gasca in this
paragraph :

"In the long procession which has passed in review before
us, we have seen only the mail-clad cavalier, brandishing
his bloody lance, and mounted on his war-horse, riding over
the helpless natives, or battling with his own friends and
brothers; fierce, arrogant, and cruel, urged on by the lust of
gold, or the scarce more honorable love of a bastard glory.
Mingled with these qualities, indeed, we have seen sparkles
of the chivalrous and romantic temper which belongs to the
heroic age of Spain. But, with some honorable exceptions, it
was the scum of her chivalry that resorted to Peru, and took
service under the banner of the Pizarros. At the close of
this long array of iron warriors, we behold the poor and
humble missionary coming into the land on an errand of
mercy, and everywhere proclaiming the glad tidings of peace.
The means he employs are in perfect harmony with this end.
His weapons are argument and mild persuasion. It is the
reason he would conquer, not the body. He wins his way by
conviction, not by violence."

CHAPTER XVI

LAS CASAS

THE Conquistadores, despite their romantic renown, were
villainous desperadoes. Bad as was Pedrarias, and it would
be hard to exaggerate his crimes, his brutalities were ex-
ceeded by his successors. The daring of these men, which
was immense, was surpassed by their cruelty. Their relig-
ious devotion in no way interfered with their vices. The
nardships they endured without flinching were tremendous,
but their treachery was as incredible. They were engaged
in a race for the Palms of Infamy and the finish was close.

The history of those days would be too depressing to
study if it were not illumined by the noble life of Don Fray
Bartholome* de Las Casas.

"His career affords perhaps a solitary instance of a man,
who, being neither a conqueror, a discoverer nor an inventor,
has, by the pure force of benevolence, become so notable a
figure, that large portions of history cannot be written, or
at least cannot be understood, without the narrative of his
deeds. ... In early American history Las Casas is,
undoubtedly, the principal figure. . . . He was an im-
portant person in reference to all that concerned the Indies,
during the reigns of Ferdinand the Catholic, of Philip the
Handsome, of his son Charles the Fifth, and of Philip the
Second. . . . Take away all he said, and did, and
wrote, and preserved (for the early historians of the New
World owe the records of many of their most notable facts to
him), and the history of the conquest would lose a consider-
able portion of its most precious materials.

253

254 PANAMA

. "It may be fearlessly asserted, that Las Casas had a
greater number of bitter enemies than any man who lived
in his time. . . . During his lifetime there was always
one person to maintain that strict justice should be done to
the Indians. . . .

"In the cause of the Indians, whether he upheld it in
speech, in writing, or in action, he appears never for one
moment to have swerved from the exact path of equity.
He has been justly called 'The Great Apostle of the Indies.' "

Las Casas was in the City of Panama in February, 1532,
and probably again two years later. But even if he had
never set foot on the Isthmus, he would, as Sir Arthur Helps
states in the above quotation, be a necessary part of its
history.

Born in Seville in 1474, he studied theology in the Uni-
versity of Salamanca and became a licentiate at eighteen.
When he was twenty-four he accompanied Columbus on his
third voyage. Two years after his return, in 1502, just
before the Great Admiral set sail on his last cruise, Las
Casas went out to Santo Domingo in the train of Nicolas
de Ovando, who had been appointed governor to replace
Bobadilla.

He was the first priest ordained in the Indies, and seems
to have led a quiet and unobserved life until he was thirty-
six, at which time he accompanied the expedition of Diego
Velasquez which went out to conquer Cuba.

The Clerigo, as Las Casas always calls himself, developed
a marked talent for conciliating the natives. One tribe
after another submitted through his mediation, without
recourse to arms. The common soldiers, however, viewed
these humane measures with open disgust. Conquest
without plunder was not to the liking of these freebooters.
In the village of Caonao, where many natives had gathered
to treat with Las Casas, one of the Spaniards suddenly

LAS CAS AS 255

drew his sword and a massacre was started before the
Clerigo could interfere. The sight of the dead bodies,
piled "like sheaves of corn," was, Las Casas tells us, the
thing which set him thinking.

The work of pacification had to be begun over again.
With infinite patience the Clerigo was able to regain the
confidence of the Indians. But it was of course impossible
for him to protect them against the brutality of his coun-
trymen. His work came to naught so far as the benefit of
the natives was concerned. However, as it is much easier
to massacre natives who have been pacified than to fight
tribes who are hostile, the officials appreciated the Clerigo's
activity and rewarded him with a "repartimiento" near
Havana.

This institution became so large an issue in the life of
Las Casas, that a few words of explanation are necessary.
After the conquest of a territory the land and natives were
divided by the governor among his friends by deeds of gift
called "repartimientos," which said that so many Indians,
under such a cacique, had been given to such a person to
command (encomienda) and which always ended with the
phrase, "and you are to teach them the things of our Holy
Catholic Faith." Of course the hardened soldiers of the
Conquest very rarely allowed this final clause to interfere
with the work of gold mining. They baptized their Indians
and made slaves of them. Las Casas accepted his reparti-
miento without question. Indeed, in the third book of his
"Historia de las Indias," he confesses that he "took no more
heed than the other Spaniards to bethink himself that his
Indians were unbelievers, and of the duty that there was
on his part to give them instruction, and to bring them to
the bosom of the Church of Christ."

He was forty years old when the light came to him. In
the year 1514, while preparing a sermon for the feast of

256 PANAMA

Pentecost, he came across the thirty-fourth chapter of
Ecclesiasticus. He especially speaks of these verses as
having opened his eyes.

"He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his
offering is ridiculous; and the gifts of unjust men are not
accepted.

"The Most High is not pleased with the offering of the
wicked: neither is he pacified for sin by the multitude of
sacrifices.

"Whoso bringeth an offering of the goods of the poor
doeth as one that killeth the son before his father's eyes.

"The bread of the needy is their life; he that defrauded
him thereof is a man of blood.

"He that taketh away his neighbor's living slayeth him;
and he that defraudeth the laborer of his hire is a blood-
shedder."

A truer "conversion" has never been recorded in history.
Something in those words, which he had probably read many
times before, changed the worldly-minded priest into an
ardent apostle. Inevitably one compares this to the con-
version of Count Tolstoi. Any social organization by which
some live idly from the forced work of others is in conflict
with the fundamental ethics of the Bible. It was as true
four centuries ago as it is to-day. Las Casas felt the system
of repartimientos to be un-Christian, and, like Tolstoi, he
decided to be a Christian.

First of all, it was necessary for him to surrender his own
Indians. Although he knew that they would be given to
someone else who would work them to death, the answer to
any sermon of his would be his own repartimiento. So he
gave them up.

Las Casas was not one to allow rust to accumulate on his
resolution. Helps describes the beginning of his ministry
as follows:

LAS CASAS 257

"When preaching on the day of 'The Assumption of Our
Lady/ he took occasion to mention publicly the conclusion
he had come to as regards his own affairs, and also to urge
upon his congregation in the strongest manner his convic-
tion of the danger to their souls if they retained their reparti-
mientos of Indians. All were amazed; some were struck
with compunction; others were as much surprised to hear
it called a sin to make use of the Indians as if they had been
told it was sinful to make use of the beasts of the field.

"After Las Casas had uttered many exhortations both in
public and in private, and had found that they were of little
avail, he meditated how to go to the fountain-head of au-
thority, the King of Spain. The Clerigo's resources were ex-
hausted: he had not a maravedi, or the means of getting one,
except by selling a mare which was worth a hundred pesos."

The Clerigo was assisted by Pedro de Renteria, the one
friend who remained true to him — in the face of his sub-
versive attacks on private property. At Santo Domingo,
Las Casas was hospitably received by Pedro de Cordova,
the prelate of the Dominicans in America. This order,
which we most often think of as the fanatical advocates of
the Inquisition, became notable in the New World for their
humane interest in the natives. Father de Cordova, know-
ing the ways of the world better than the Clerigo, could give
him little encouragement of relief from the king, but he gave
him his blessing. In September, 1515, accompanied by two
Dominican brothers, Las Casas sailed for Spain.

About Christmas time the Clerigo arrived at Court and
was received by the old king. His fervid earnestness made
so strong an impression that he had been granted another
interview. It was prevented by the death of the king.
It is surprising how often Las Casas won over some power-
ful ally and then, just when things looked most hopeful, was
defeated by death and forced to begin all over again.

258 PANAMA

He was not so successful in his effort to secure the favor
of the powerful Bishop of Burgos. Of this prelate, Helps
writes :

"The Bishop of Burgos was one of those ready, bold,
and dexterous men, with a great reputation for fidelity,
who are such favourites with princes. He went through so
many stages of preferment, that it is sometimes difficult to
trace him; and the student of early American history will
have a bad opinion of many Spanish bishops, if he does not
discover that it is Bishop Fonseca who reappears under vari-
ous designations. He held successively the Archdeaconate
of Seville, the Bishoprics of Badajoz, Cordova, Palencia,
and Conde, the Archbishopric of Rosano (in Italy), with the
Bishopric of Burgos, besides the office of Capellan mayor to
Isabella, and afterwards to Ferdinand."

His interview with the bishop was stormy. Unable to
move the smug courtier by his eloquence, he, as a last effort,
told him how seven thousand Indian children had perished
in three months.

"How does all this concern me or His Majesty, the
King?" the cynical Fonseca asked.

Las Casas told him that all these infant souls would rise
up against him on the Day of Judgment, and left in a
rage.

The king died in January, 1516, and Las Casas imme-
diately went to Madrid to lay his case before the Cardinal
Ximenes and the Ambassador Adrian, who had been ap-
pointed regents until Charles should reach his majority.
Luckily for the Indians, the death of the old king excluded
the ubiquitous Fonseca from the councils for a time, and
the Clerigo was able to obtain an unprejudiced hearing from
the regents. Ximenes seems to have desired to rule the
colonies wisely. Shocked by the stories of the outrages
committed on the Indians, which the Clerigo told, he called

LAS CASAS 259

a Junta, or special council, to consider the affairs of the
Indies.

An incident occurred in one of these meetings which is
typical of Las Casas. The cardinal, wanting to know the
existing conditions, ordered a secretary to read the laws
which had been drawn up by the preceding council. The clerk
happened to be a retainer of Fonseca, and when he came to
a section which was patently unjust, he wilfully misread it to
shield his patron. Las Casas knew the law by heart and
protested that the clerk was wrong. Ximenes ordered the
man to reread it. He repeated his distortion. Las Casas
jumped up and exclaimed, "The law says no such thing."
The cardinal was vexed by the incident and told Las Casas
not to interrupt. But the man was not born who could still
the voice of the Clerigo when he thought he was right.

"Your Lordship, you can hang me, if the law says that!"

One of the councillors took the law and read it. Las
Casas was right.

"You can imagine," he writes, "that the clerk (whose
name, for his honor's sake, I will not give) wished that he
had never been born." And he adds, "the Clerigo lost
nothing of the regard in which the Cardinal held him nor
in the credit which he put in his word."

The Junta drew up a code of laws for the Indies, prac-
tically at the dictation of Las Casas. This in itself was a
remarkable result to be accomplished by an unknown col-
onial priest, who had no aristocratic prestige, little learning
and no friends but those he could win by his own fervor.
But while the framing of good laws is easy under an auto-
cratic government, where the reformer has to convince only
a small group, the enforcement of good laws is very difficult
to achieve. In this case the administration was intrusted
to four fathers of the Jeronimite Order, who were sent
out to Santo Domingo with full powers.

260 PANAMA

This code was long and complicated; the gist of it was the
abolition of slavery. It did not go as far in that direction
as the Clerigo wished, but it was a long step forward. Natu-
rally it encountered opposition. It attacked the pocket-
books of many of "the best people" of the day. When the
"colonial lobby" at Madrid found that they could not reach
the Cardinal Ximenes, they turned their attention to the
Jeronimite fathers. Las Casas boldly asserts that the
"interests" succeeded in fixing them.

Certain it is that the good fathers proceeded very cau-
tiously in the enforcement of the laws. They arrived in
Santo Domingo in December, 1516. Whether or not they
were actually bribed it is impossible to determine. They
were men of peace. If they had been of one of the sterner
and more militant orders they might have done their duty.
As yet the conquests had not been broad enough to firmly
establish the system of repartimientos. It might have been
stamped out on the islands before it gained a foothold on
the continent. But brought up in the seclusion of their
cloisters, disciplined in humility, accustomed to bow down
before the mighty, these fathers proved unequal to their
great task. They made friends with the mammon of un-
righteousness.

Las Casas, who had been given the title of "Protector of
the Indians," but no powers, arrived in Santo Domingo
shortly after them. He, of course, was outraged at their
ineffectiveness. In order to force them to action, he
brought an impeachment against the judges of the colony,
who were among the worst offenders. He called it "una
terrible acusacion." What the outcome of this proceeding
was we do not know. But it forever branded Las Casas as
a "disturber of the peace." The Jeronomite fathers said
he was a torch which threatened to set everything afire.
He had definitely placed himself with the "muck-rakers"

LAS CA8A8 261

and "undesirable citizens." Hopeless of accomplishing any-
thing in Santo Domingo, he returned to Spain in May, 1517
— only to find his good friend the Cardinal Ximenes at the
point of death.

The government, for Charles V was still a minor, now fell
into the hands of two Flemish nobles, William, Lord of
Chieves and Jean Salvage, whom the Spaniards called
Selvagius. These ministers, although accused of taking
small interest in Spanish affairs, the poorest province of all
the vast domains of the Spanish crown, gave considerable
attention to colonial matters. Las Casas received a hear-
ing. As usual, his ardent eloquence won their respect. The
Chancellor, Selvagius, took up the matter with the young
king and received authority to draw up more laws.

The Clerigo was a man who was always learning. He had
come to realize that there was an imperative need for laborers
in the colony. No laws could alter that. Either the colo-
nies must be abandoned or laborers found for the mines, the
fields and for transportation. The only way to get work out
of the nomadic Indians was to enslave them. If he wished
to rescue them it was necessary to find other labor.

With this idea in mind he drew up an elaborate scheme
for the chancellor. The main feature was the stimulation
of peasant immigration from Spain. So far the colonists were
of three classes, gentlemen adventurers, mercenary soldiers
and common sailors. None of them furnished a reliable
labor force. Every year famine killed hundreds of peasants
in Spain. It was an ambitious emigration scheme — they
were to be transported free, given fields and tools; but the
wealth flowing into the royal treasury from the colonies
certainly warranted the expense.

But Las Casas was always unexpectedly running up against
" vested interests." He looked directly to his goal of justice
and was always surprised to find that " property rights" stood

262 PANAMA

above "human rights." That the whole feudal aristocracy of
Spain would rise as a body in indignation against a scheme
which offered their starving serfs a chance to escape from vil-
lainage never occurred to him. The peasants were eager to go.
In one village of two hundred souls, Berlanga, seventy applied
for permission. Many of them gave as their reason their
desire to escape from the seignors and bring up their children
"in a free land under royal jurisdiction." The outcry of the
nobility against this incendiary priest was so great that the
scheme fell through.

The Bishop Fonseca had again come into power after the
death of Ximenes. He was only too glad to grasp this oppor-
tunity to thwart his old enemy, Las Casas.

Among other recommendations in the Clerigo's project to
relieve the Indians was one which has been often cited
against him by his enemies. He advocated the importation
of negro slaves. This was certainly borrowing from Peter
on behalf of Paul. It is well to remember, as mitigating
circumstances, that negro slavery existed in these United
States up to fifty years ago. Four centuries ago no voice
had been raised against it. While Las Casas had with his
own eyes seen the horrors of the enforced mine labors of the
Indians, the brutality of their conquerors, their speedy
death, most of the negro slaves he had seen were body or
house servants. The suggestion did not originate with him.
His recommendation was rather to regulate the slave-trade,
than, as is often asserted, to create it.

The surprising thing is not that he proposed this measure,
which does not seem to have shocked any of his contempo-
aries, but that he repented of it. Years afterwards he
wrote: "This advice, that license should be given to bring
negro slaves to these lands, the Clerigo Casas first gave, not
considering the injustice with which the Portuguese take
them, and make them slaves; which advice, after he had

LAS CAS AS 263

apprehended the nature of the thing, he would not have
given for all he had in the world. For he always held that
they had been made slaves unjustly and tyrannically; for
the same reason holds good of them as of the Indians."

Of all the proposals of his elaborate programme of reform,
most of which was farsighted and wise, only the one which
was utterly bad was accepted.

Absolutely defeated in all his efforts by the influence of
greed, Las Casas tried to think out some remedy which,
while benefiting the Indians, would at the same time be
attractive to the mercenary people who possessed the powers
of government. His scheme took the form of a plan of
colonization. He wanted to create a lay order of Christian
Knights who would be willing to settle some portion of the
mainland and while primarily interested in bringing the
natives to Christianity would also be able to guarantee an
attractive income to the Crown. He thought it would be
possible to make a missionary crusade produce dividends.

His project, noble in its conception and compounded with
considerable common-sense, seems bizarre and unpractical as
we read of it to-day. But it was a bizarre age. It excited
a great deal of violent discussion. Among others who ap-
proved of it were the new Premier, Gattinara, an intensely
practical and worldly man, and Pedro de C6rdova, the
Dominican prelate of Santo Domingo, than whom no more
spiritually minded churchman ever came to America. How-
ever, anything suggested by Las Casas was sure to be at-
tacked. The Clerigo seems to have ignored the ribald
jokes with dignity. But in his history he tells of one
criticism which seems to have wounded him deeply. The
licentiate Aguirre, a man renowned for his godliness, who
had always been an able supporter of Las Casas, was shocked
when he heard of all these business negotiations, and said,
Las Casas tells us, "that such a manner of preaching the

264 PANAMA

Gospels grieved him deeply, for it showed an interest in
temporal affairs, which he had not before suspected in the
Clerigo." Helps gives an almost literal translation of the
incident as recorded by Las Casas:

"Las Casas, having heard what Aguirre had said, took
occasion to speak to him one day in the following terms:
' Sefior, if you were to see our Lord Jesus Christ maltreated,
vituperated, and afflicted, would you not implore with all
your might that those who had him in their power would
give him to you, that you might serve and worship him?'
'Yes,' said Aguirre. 'Then,' replied Las Casas, 'if they
would not give him to you, but would sell him, would you
redeem him?' 'Without a doubt.' 'Well, then, Sefior,'
rejoined Las Casas, 'that is what I have done, for I have
left in the Indies Jesus Christ, our Lord, suffering stripes,
and afflictions, and crucifixion, not once but thousands of
times, at the hands of the Spaniards, who destroy and deso-
late those Indian nations, taking from them the opportunity
of conversion and penitence, so that they die without faith
and without sacraments."

"Then Las Casas went on to explain how he had sought to
remedy these things in the way that Aguirre would most have
approved. To this the answer had been, that the King
would have no rents, wherefore, when he, Las Casas, saw
that his opponents would sell him the gospel, he had offered
those temporal inducements which Aguirre had heard of
and disapproved.

"The licentiate considered this a sufficient answer, and
so, I think, would any reasonable man."

In this, as in every project of the Clerigo's, the Bishop
Fonseca was an active opponent. The plan might never
have been approved of were it not that the news of many
recent scandals came to court at this time. A letter came
from Fray Francisco de Sant Roman, a monk in Panama,

LAS CASA8 265

telling of the infamous raid of Pedrarias's Alcalde, Espinosa,
in which 40,000 Indians had been killed.

Oviedo, the historian who had gone out to Castilla del
Oro with Pedrarias, had returned to court and was pro-
testing against the crimes of that governor. Not long after-
wards, Quevedo, the Bishop of Darien, arrived with fresh
charges.

Las Casas, who like his Master had an especial talent for
baiting the Pharisees, soon came to an argument with this
oily prelate. Words ran high, and the Clerigo, who was by
no means afraid of a bishop, brought the quarrel to a close
by saying that unless Quevedo returned all the money he
had wrung from his flock he had less chance of salvation
than Judas Iscariot.

The king, hearing of this tilt, and dearly loving the scho-
lastic disputations of the day, wherein the subtlest argu-
ments joined hands with the crudest invectives, summoned
them both before him to have it out. The bishop spoke
first, and among other things said that five years in the
colonies had convinced him that the Indians were by nature
slaves.

The Clerigo's speech is too long to reproduce, and the
style of oratory then in vogue is no longer fashionable.
But Las Casas had that rare gift of eloquence, shared by
such men as Savonarola, which can for a time lift the most
worldly man to an appreciation of spiritual values. He
completely won his hearers.

When he finished, a Franciscan father, who had just re-
turned from the Indies, spoke.

"My lord," he said, "I have been certain years in the
island of Hispaniola, and I was commanded with others to
go and visit and take the number of Indians in the island,
and we found that they were so many thousand. After-
wards, at the end of two years, a similar charge was again

266 PANAMA

given to me, and we found that there had perished so many
thousands. And thus the infinity of people who were in
that island has been destroyed. Now, if the blood of one
person unjustly put to death was of such effect that it was
not removed out of the sight of God until he had taken ven-
geance for it, and the blood of the others never ceases to
exclaim Vindica sanguinem nostrum, Deus noster, what will
the blood do of such innumerable people as have perished in
those lands under such great tyranny and injustice? Then,
by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the wounds of St.
Francis, I pray and entreat Your Majesty that you would
find a remedy for such wickedness and such destruction of
people, as perish daily there, so that the divine justice may
not pour out its severe indignation upon all of us."

It was a short speech, but so fervent and impressive that
Las Casas says that it seemed to all present as if they were
listening to words from the Day of Judgment.

The king was deeply touched and ordered the Council of
the Indies to do all in their power to further the project of
Las Casas. The necessary decrees received the royal signa-
ture on the 19th of May, 1520. Very shortly Las Casas
sailed to Santo Domingo, where he hoped to recruit the
knights for his crusade. But when he touched at Porto
Rico, en route, he found that once more his hopes were
shattered. War had broken out on the coast of Venezuela,
the very territory which had been assigned to him. Arrived
in Santo Domingo, his old enemies again attacked him. This
time they declared that his ship was unseaworthy and kept
him a practical prisoner until the slaves, which the expedition
into his territory were capturing, began to appear in the
market of Santo Domingo. Then, when it was too late for
any chance of success for his scheme of friendly coloniza-
tion, they let him go. He arrived at Cumana at last to
find the country round about devastated.

LAS CASAS 267

Broken in spirit, he returned to Santo Domingo and
entered the Dominican Monastery in 1522. He was forty-
eight years old when he became a monk. His retirement
from the world seemed a surrender and there was joy in the
camp of his enemies.

We know very little of his life during these years of seclu-
sion. It is probable that he began work on his great "His-
toria de las Indias." Certainly he spent much time in
study, for when after eight years he emerged from his retreat
he was a learned man. Too learned, anyone is apt to say,
who reads his writings, for they are cluttered up with endless
quotations from the Classics and from the Church Fathers.
But barren as this scholastic philosophy seems to us to-day,
it was the dominant mode of thought in his age. In the
famous controversies of his old age his intimate knowl-
edge of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas was an im-
mensely powerful weapon.

Sir Arthur Helps calls attention to one significant fact.
It is the only thing we know with certainty about his years
in the monastery. He was not allowed to preach. Even
the Dominicans, the most fearless and the most friendly to
the Indians of all the orders in America, did not dare to let
this firebrand occupy their pulpit.

During these eight years great things happened outside
the cloister walls. Cortes completed his conquest of Mex-
ico. Pedrarias and his captains overran Nicaragua. Alva-
rado subdued Guatemala. Pizarro had embarked on his
Peruvian enterprise.

After eight years of seclusion, Father Las Casas suddenly
reappeared in Court. Once more on behalf of the Indians,
— this time in an effort to save the Indians of Peru. But
he reached Spain in 1530, just after Pizarro had sailed back
to the Isthmus. He secured the passage of some protective
laws and returned to Santo Domingo, where two friars

268 PANAMA

joined him in his effort to overtake Pizarro and restrain his
cruelty. They went by way of Mexico to settle some dis-
putes in the Dominican Chapter there, and then overland
to Puerto Realejo on the Pacific, where they found a ship
sailing for Peru.

The Clerigo gives very little information about this jour-
ney. I have been unable to find any record of the dates.
But it seems to have been fruitless. Probably the Con-
quistadores were in the interior beyond their reach. The
monks returned and stopped a few days in Panama City in
February, 1532.

Las Casas and his two companions then went to Leon in
Nicaragua and founded a monastery. Here he spent two
years in peaceful missionary work among the natives. He
again set out for Peru, but his ship was driven back by
storms and he changed his plan, going again to Spain to
plead his cause in Court.

Returning to his monastery in Nicaragua, he found
troubles nearer at hand which needed his righting. The
new governor, Rodrigo de Contreras, was beginning his mur-
derous career. By his vehement opposition Las Casas was
able to prevent a slave-stealing raid. That he had good
reason to oppose the governor no one who reads his treatise,
"Brevissima Relacion de la Destruycion de las Indias,"
can doubt. He cites one instance when, of a body of 4,000
Indians impressed as carriers in a Nicaraguan expedition,
only six of them returned alive. The slaves were chained
together by means of collars about their necks. When one
of them gave out and could march no farther, the slave-
drivers would cut off his head and so, releasing the chain,
allow the gang to go on without loss of time. " Imagine,"
he writes, "what the others must have felt."

The hostility of the bandit Contreras at last drove him
out of Nicaragua and he went to Guatemala, where together

LAS CASAS 269

with three brothers, Luis Cancer, Pedro de Angulo and
Rodrigo de Ladrada, their names deserve mention for they
were as noble a group of missionaries as the Church has ever
produced, he founded a monastery. They were fortunate
in finding in the Bishop of Guatemala a man worthy to be
their comrade. A man of great scholarship in the classics,
he had humbled himself to master the Utlatecan language
of the natives. Las Casas and his monks sat at his feet and
also learned the language. "It was a delight," an old
chronicler comments, "to see the bishop, as a master of
declensions and conjugations in the Indian tongue, teaching
the good fathers of St. Dominic." In a preface to a tract
which the bishop wrote in the native tongue, he says that
perhaps some people may think that it is below the dignity
of a prelate to occupy himself with such matters "solely
fitted for the teaching of children," but he adds, "if the
matter be well considered, it will be seen that it is baser
not to occupy oneself with such seeming trifles, for such
teaching is the very marrow of our Holy Faith."

Some time previous to this, Las Casas had written a
paper called "De unico vocationis modo." Although it was
not printed, it was translated from the Latin into Spanish
and had a wide circulation among the colonists. In it the
Clerigo developed two propositions. The first was that
men must be brought to Christ by persuasion and not by
force. The second was that war against the infidel was not
justified unless some specific injury had been sustained.
These do not seem very radical conclusions to-day, but they
made a sensation when written. It is in fact remarkable
that the first proposition did not involve Las Casas with the
Inquisition. The second more nearly concerned the mass
of the colonists. The Indian slaves died with discour-
aging rapidity. The only way to keep up the labor sup-
ply was by incessant conflicts with the native tribes,

270 PANAMA

which were generally justified as wars against the unbe-
lievers.

The Conquistadores were not only angry at these doc-
trines of Las Casas, they made sport of them. "Try it,"
they taunted. "Try with words only and without force to
bring the Indians into the Church." Las Casas was only
too glad to accept the challenge of these practical men who
said he was a dreamer.

The nearby province of Tuzulutan was called by the
Spaniards "Tierra Guerra"—The Land of War. Three
different expeditions which had set out to subdue this terri-
tory had returned defeated — as the historian Remesal says,
"Las manos en la cabe<;a" — holding their heads in their
hands.

The Clerigo entered into a formal contract with the acting
governor, Alonzo Maldonado — it was signed the 2nd of
May, 1537 — by which he undertook to proselyte this Tierra
Guerra. If he succeeded in pacifying these tribes, who, as
they had resisted conquest, were said by the Spaniards to
be in revolt, and in persuading them to recognize the sover-
eignty of the King of Spain, the government pledged itself
to make the territory a direct appendage of the Crown, not
to give any repartimientos to private persons, and not to
allow any layman to enter the district for five years.

One can "easily imagine" — to use a favorite phrase of the
Clerigo — the guffaws of derisive laughter with which the
soldiers heard of this compact. The four Dominican monks
were to attempt the work which had defeated three armies.
Well — at last they would be rid of this trouble-maker, Las
Casas.

For several days the Dominicans retired to their cells for
severe fasting, mortifications and prayers. And then, hav-
ing consecrated themselves, they set to work. Their project
seemed even more fantastic than those of the Clerigo which

HITTING THE TRAIL.

COCOANUT PALMS.

LAS CAS AS 271

had already failed. They composed a long ballad in the
Utlatecan language, which, beginning with the Hebrew story
of the Creation and Fall, contained all the Bible narratives
and the principal dogmas of the Church. Unfortunately
this remarkable literary work has been lost. While some of
the monks labored at versifying the Scheme of Salvation in
this unfamiliar tongue, others set it to music so that it
might be accompanied on the crude instruments with which
the natives were familiar. Undoubtedly they worked in
many of the accepted melodies of Spain, but they strove to
follow as nearly as possible the form of chant which the In-
dians had developed. To realize the proportions of the task
we must think of some such unfamiliar language and theory
of music as that of China or Egypt. The missionaries had
been only a few years in Guatemala; they were old men
when they came, yet so diligent had been their application
that they were able to compose poetry and music acceptable
to the natives!

Having finished this part of their undertaking, they
secured the services of four native peddlers who were in the
habit of making annual trips into the Tierra Guerra. With
infinite care the monks taught them the words and music.
They were rehearsed and rehearsed — it must be remembered
that all this was done by word of mouth, for the merchants
were illiterate — until they were letter perfect.

The most amazing thing about it all is that the work,
both the composition and teaching, was completed in three
months! By the middle of August the peddlers were ready
to start. Las Casas, who combined a knowledge of worldly
motives with his intense spirituality, had seen to it that
besides their missionary poem, they were loaded down with
more attractive packs of goods than any native merchant
had ever carried before.

After their emissaries had departed, the four monks, by

272 PANAMA

means of relays, kept up almost continual prayer for the
success of the venture. As far as the limited means of
communication permitted they had notified all their brothers
of their momentous undertaking. All throughout the Indias
the Dominican Order was uniting in fervent prayer for its
success.

And it did succeed.

The peddlers arrived safely at the village of the cacique and
during the first day drove a thriving trade with their Spanish
knives and hatchets and beads. At night, before the camp-
fire, where, as is always the custom among savage people,
the strangers were expected to entertain their hosts with
song or story, they asked for instruments and chanted the
wonderful story of the Christ. The strange music — on the
whole like their own, but sometimes breaking out into an
unfamiliar melody — attracted the villagers. They sat in-
tent, until the poem was finished.

For seven days they stayed in the village and every night
were invited to repeat their bizarre sermon. The cacique
was deeply interested and asked many questions about the
strange poem. The peddlers, being ignorant men, said they
knew nothing except what they had heard. The poem
had come to them from certain Spaniards, who were different
from all others — whose heads were shaven, who wore strange
robes of black and white, who ate no meat, had no desire for
gold and who lived a life of abstinence. Who, instead of
rioting with women and wine, spent their days and nights
singing praises to the God of this poem, and whose only in-
terest was to teach their faith to all men.

The upshot of it was that the cacique sent his brother
back with the peddlers to see if such strange things could be
true. Above all he told his envoy to watch these padres
and see if they fought for gold and silver like the other
Spaniards and had slave women in their houses.

LAS CASAS 273

"It can easily be imagined," Las Casas writes, "with what
joy the monks of St. Dominic received this savage ambas-
sador." So favorable an impression did their piety make
on him that he asked one of them to return with him to
preach to his brother the cacique and the people. Father
Luis Cancer was chosen for this mission.

There is no space here to trace all the steps by which these
four monks, from this beginning, converted the natives of
"The Land of War." Having brought peace and prosperity
to Tuzulutlan, they learned other native languages and
gradually extended their sway to the neighboring tribes.

In this little corner of Guatemala, alone in all the vast
Spanish colonies, the Indians learned to think of the word
" Christian" as meaning something different from "Devil."

While Las Casas was in "The Land of War," teaching its
people of the Prince of Peace and instructing them in the
ways of. material prosperity, unexpected aid came from the
Court of Rome. Pope Paul III (Alexander Farnese) issued
his Bull "Euntes docete omnes gentes," in which he said that
the Indians were to be considered "as veritable men not
only capable of receiving the Christian faith, but, as we
have learnt, most ready to embrace it." He followed this
brief by a letter to the Archbishop of Toledo, the primate of
Spain, in which he wrote:

"It has come to our knowledge that our dearest son in
Christ, Charles, the ever august emperor of the Romans,
king of Castille and Leon, in order to repress those who,
boiling over with cupidity, bear an inhuman mind against
the human race, has by public edict forbidden all his sub-
jects from making slaves of the Western and Southern
Indians, or depriving them of their goods."

He closed this letter with a sentence of absolute excom-
munication against all who should make slaves of the
Indians.

274 PANAMA

The delight of Las Casas on the receipt of these papal
letters can " easily be imagined." He translated them into
Spanish and saw that they were widely circulated in the
colonies.

In 1539 Las Casas went to Spain to plead for the send-
ing of more missionaries to Guatemala. He was as usual
favorably received, and his requests were granted. He was
detained at the Court to assist in the deliberations of the
Council of the Indies. It was during this time that he
wrote two of his most important treatises, "The Destruc-
tion of the Indies," and his even more important "Veynte
Razones," in which he gives twenty reasons to prove that
the system of repartimientos was iniquitous and un-Chris-
tian.

These pamphlets and his verbal arguments before the
council resulted in the framing of "The New Laws," which,
while the pretext for Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion in Peru
and of insurrections in other places, on the whole were en-
forceable and succeeded in preventing the absolute extermi-
nation of the Indians.

"The New Laws," writes Helps, "had been a signal
triumph for Las Casas. Without him, without his untiring
energy and singular influence over those whom he came
near, these laws would not have been enacted. The mere
bodily fatigue which he endured was such as hardly any
man of his time, not a conqueror, had encountered. He
had crossed the ocean twelve times. Four times he had
made his way into Germany, to see the emperor. Had a
record been kept of his wanderings, such as that which
exists of the journeys of Charles the Fifth, it would have
shown that Las Casas had led a much more active life than
even that energetic monarch. Moreover, the journeyings
of Las Casas were often made with all the inconvenience
of poverty."

LAS CASAS 275

In recognition of his untiring public service, the emperor
offered him the bishopric of Cusco, in Peru. For many
reasons, principally a distaste for lofty positions, the Clerigo
refused this, the richest see in America. But after much
urging he accepted the episcopal office in the newly con-
quered province of Chiapa, a district near the scene of his
successful labors in the Tierra Guerra of Guatemala. He
was consecrated in Seville and on the 4th of July, 1544, he
sailed, with forty-five Dominican monks, to proselyte his
frontier diocese.

He was exceedingly ill-received when he stopped in Santo
Domingo. Unquestionably he was the best hated man in
the New World. Imagine Wendell Phillips in Richmond,
just after Appomattox Court House. For Las Casas had
won his long fight against greed. The maltreatment of the
Indians of course continued, but it was no longer legal.
The Bishop of Chiapa was now seventy years old. He had
commenced his mission at forty. The thirty years of de-
voted agitation had resulted in the pope's bull which pro-
nounced slavery un-Christian and the New Laws which
made it illegal. All his long journey to Ciudad Real, the
capital of Chiapa, was a Via Crucis. In some places he
was stoned.

"The hatred to Las Casas," writes Sir Arthur Helps,
" throughout the New World, amounted to a passion.
Letters were written to the residents in Chiapa, expressing
pity for them as having met the greatest misfortune that
could occur to them, in being placed under such a bishop.
They did not name him, but spoke of him as 'That Devil
who has come to you for a bishop.' The following is an
extract from one of these letters. 'We say here, that very
great must be the sins of your country, when God chastises
it with such a scourge as sending that Antichrist for a
bishop.'"

276 PANAMA

Arrived at his new post the godly bishop had the audacity
to take the pope's bull literally. He refused absolution to
all Spaniards who held slaves. The officials not enforcing
the laws to suit him, he journeyed to Honduras to lay the
case before the Audiencia. Unable to get redress he threat-
ened to excommunicate the judges if they refused to do their
duty. He tells how one of them whose conscience troubled
him mightily lost his temper and heaped abuse on him in
court. " You are a scoundrel," he shouted, " an evil man, a
bad monk, a worse bishop — a shameless scoundrel — you
ought to be flogged." Las Casas replied, "The Lord will
punish me for my sins, which are many."

By his fearless persistence he at last forced the Audiencia
to send an officer to Chiapa to enforce the laws. When the
inhabitants of Ciudad Real heard of the bishop's triumph
they determined to resist his entry into the city.

Las Casas writes that although he came "unguarded and
on foot, with only a stick in his hand, and a breviary in his
girdle," they strapped on their armor and loaded their
arquebuses.

On the way he stopped at a Dominican monastery. The
monks urged him to turn back, saying that the infuriated
populace would surely kill him. But he insisted on going
on.

"For," he said "if I do not go to Ciudad Real, I banish
myself from my church; and it will be said of me, with
much reason, 'The wicked fleeth; and no man pursueth.'
. . . If I do not endeavour to enter my church, of whom
shall I have to complain to the king, or to the pope, as having
thrust me out of it? Are my adversaries so bitter against
me that the first word will be a deadly thrust through my
heart, without giving me the chance of soothing them? In
conclusion, reverend fathers, I am resolved, trusting in the
mercy of God and in your holy prayers, to set out for my

LAS CASAS 277

diocese. To tarry here, or to go elsewhere, has all the in-
conveniences which have just been stated."

He indeed had a stormy reception. But his simple man-
ner prevailed over the mob. When one of them reviled
him, he said, "I will not answer you — for your insults are
addressed, not to me, but to God." By his fearless non-
resistance he won the ascendency over his flock and after a
few hours of turbulence they came to him on their knees,
asking for pardon.

The Peruvian Rebellion had forced the emperor to reduce
the rigor of the "New Laws." All Spaniards who held
repartimientos were to be allowed to keep them during their
lives, but no new grants were to be made. This let-up was
undoubtedly a severe disappointment to Las Casas. But
although he seemed to have been defeated, his work bore,
in reality, marvellous fruit. Although temporarily revived,
the brutal system had received its death blow. In 1547,
he resigned from his bishopric and returned to Spain where
he felt that he could have greater influence in Indian affairs.

About this time a learned doctor of laws, Juan Gine*s
Sepulveda, wrote a treatise, "De Justis Belli Causis." It
was an elaborate argument in favor of Indian slavery. Las
Casas at once commenced a polemical discussion with him.
In 1550, when he was seventy-six years old, he met Sepulveda
in an open debate before the emperor. For five consecutive
days he read an argument which was afterwards printed
under the title "Historia Apolige'tica." A referee condensed
this long treatise into twelve propositions, to which Sepul-
veda returned twelve counter-propositions. Las Casas was
allowed to present twelve answers. One selection from his
argument will do as a sample of the whole disputation.

To Sepulveda's proposition in favor of the right of con-
quest, Las Casas replied:

"The doctor founds these rights upon our superiority in

278 PANAMA

arms, and upon our having more bodily strength than the
Indians. This is simply to place our kings in the position
of tyrants. The right of those kings rests upon their
extension of the Gospel in the New World, and their good
government of the Indian nations. These duties they
would be bound to fulfil even at their own expense; much
more so considering the treasures they have received from
the Indies. To deny this doctrine is to flatter and deceive
our monarchs, and to put their salvation in peril. The doc-
tor perverts the natural order of things, making the means
the end, and what is accessory the principal. The acces-
sory is temporal advantage: the principal, the preaching of
the true faith. He who is ignorant of this, small is his
knowledge; and he who denies it, is no more of a Christian
than Mahomet was."

The result of the controversy was a Scotch verdict; the
learned jury concurred in the opinions of Sepulveda, but the
king and his councillors, convinced by the eloquent logic of
Las Casas, prohibited the circulation of the doctor's book in
the colonies. In a private letter Sepulveda wrote of his aged
opponent as "most subtile, most vigilant, and most fluent,
compared with whom Ulysses of Homer was a tongue-tied
stutterer."

The reclining years of the Apostle to the Indians were
spent in writing. Besides many controversial treatises, he
produced a monumental history of the Discovery and Con-
quest. When ninety years old he published a treatise on
Peru — one of the most forceful things which ever came from
his pen. This was apparently his last literary work. But
two years later, hearing from the Dominican Fathers in
Guatemala of some abuses in the administration of justice,
he left his monastery in Valladolid and travelled to Madrid.
So ably did he present the matter to the king that the neces-
sary reforms were granted.

LAS CASAS 279

Almost inmediately after this last pilgrimage in behalf
of his beloved Indians, while still in Madrid, he fell sick and
in July, 1566, died at the age of ninety-two.

Sir Arthur Helps, the eminent historian of the Conquest
and a biographer of Las Casas, sums up his character in
these paragraphs:

"The life of Las Casas appears to me one of the most in-
teresting, indeed I may say the most interesting, of all those
that I have ever studied; and I think it is more than the nat-
ural prejudice of a writer for his hero, that inclines me to
look upon him as one of the most remarkable personages
that has ever appeared in history. It is well known that
he has ever been put in the foremost rank of philanthropists;
but he had other qualifications which were also extraordinary.
He was not a mere philanthropist, possessed only with one
idea. He had one of those large minds which take an in-
terest in everything. As an historian, a man of letters, a
colonist, a missionary, a theologian, an active ruler in the
Church, a man of business, and an observer of natural his-
tory and science, he holds a very high position amongst the
notable men of his own age. The ways, the customs, the
religion, the policy, the laws, of the new people whom he
saw, the new animals, the new trees, the new herbs, were all
observed and chronicled by him.

"In an age eminently superstitious, he was entirely devoid
of superstition. At a period when the most extravagant
ideas as to the divine rights of kings prevailed, he took
occasion to remind kings themselves to their faces, that they
are only permitted to govern for the good of the people.

"At a period when brute force was universally appealed
to in all matters, but more especially in those that pertained
to religion, he contended before juntas and royal councils
that missionary enterprise is a thing that should stand inde-
pendent of all military support; that a missionary should

280 PANAMA

go forth with his life in his hand, relying only on the pro-
tection that God will vouchsafe him, and depending neither
upon civil nor military assistance. In fact, his works should,
even in the present day, form the best manual extant for
missionaries. . . .

"He lived in most stirring times; he was associated with
the greatest personages of his day; and he had the privilege
of taking part in the discovery and colonization of a new
world.

"Eloquent, devoted, charitable, fervent, sometimes too
fervent, yet very skilful in managing men, he will doubtless
remind the reader of his prototype, Saint Paul; and it was
very fitting that he should have been called, as he was, the
'Apostle of the Indies.'

"Notwithstanding our experience, largely confirmed by
history, of the ingenuity often manifested in neglecting to
confer honour upon those who most deserve it, one cannot
help wondering that the Romish Church never thought of
enrolling Las Casas as a saint, amongst such fellow-labourers
as Saint Charles of Borromeo, or Saint Francis of Assisi."

CHAPTER XVII

THE DAYS OF THE GREAT TRADE

ONE of the most interesting phases in the history of the
Isthmus is the sudden development of an immense trade.
For about a century the rough trail from Panama City across
to the Atlantic towns of Nombre de Dios and Puerto Bello
was the richest trade route in the world.

Even after the wrought gold had been stripped from the
temples and palaces of the Incas, the rich silver mines of
Potosi continued to produce great wealth. Dye woods from
the west coast of Central America furnished also a valuable
merchandise. There were pearls from the islands and many
kinds of precious stones from the Andes. In exchange for
this home-going wealth many commodities had to be brought
out for the colonists. The commerce of Panama even crossed
the Pacific. In the third volume of the "Hakluyt Voyages"
is given a letter from a merchant which is dated from Panama,
August 28th, 1590:

"Here I haue remained these 20 dayes, till the shippes goe
for the Philipinas. My meaning is to carie my commodities
thither: for it is constantly reported, that for every hundred
ducats a man shall get 600 ducats cleerely. We must stay
here till it be Christmasse. For in August, September,
October and November is it winter here and extreme foule
weather upon this coast of Peru, and not nauigable to goe to
the Philipinas, nor any place else in the South sea. So that
at Christmasse the shipes begin to set on their voyage for
those places."

281

282 PANAMA

This letter indicates a considerable traffic with the Spice
Islands and the Orient via Panama. In the same year more
than ninety ships from Spain called at the Atlantic ports,
an average of almost two ships a week. Even to-day that
would indicate a large commerce.

But Spain held her colonial business in the tightest kind
of a monopoly. No outsiders were to be allowed to share in
it. Mr. Haring, in his "The Buccaneers in the West Indies
in the XVII Century," which, in spite of its thrilling title,
is a doctor's thesis, gives much interesting information about
this commercial development.

"The first means adopted by the northern maritime nations
to appropriate to themselves a share of the riches of the
New World was open, semi-piratical attack upon the Span-
ish argosies returning from those distant El Dorados. The
success of the Norman and Breton corsairs, for it was the
French, not the English, who started the game, gradually
forced upon the Spaniards, as a means of protection, the
establishment of great merchant fleets sailing periodically at
long intervals and accompanied by powerful convoys. Dur-
ing the first half of the sixteenth century any ship which had
fulfilled the conditions required for engaging in American
commerce was allowed to depart alone and at any time of
the year. From about 1526, however, merchant vessels were
ordered to sail together, and by a cedula of July, 1561, the
system of fleets was made permanent and obligatory. This
decree prohibited any ship from sailing alone to America
from Cadiz or San Lucar on pain of forfeiture of ship and
cargo. Two fleets were organized each year, one for Terra
Firma going to Cartagena and Porto Bello, the other designed
for the port of San Juan d'Uloa (Vera Cruz) in New Spain.
The latter, called the Flota, was commanded by an "al-
mirante," and sailed for Mexico in the early summer so as
to avoid the hurricane season and the "northers" of the

THE DATS OF THE GEE AT TRADE 283

Mexican Gulf. The former, usually called the galeones
(anglice "galleons")? was commanded by a "general," and
sailed from Spain earlier in the year, between January and
March. If it departed in March, it usually wintered in
Havana, and returned with the Flota in the following spring.
Sometimes the two fleets sailed together and separated at
Guadaloupe, Deseada or another of the Leeward Islands.

"The galleons generally consisted of from five to eight
war-vessels carrying from forty to fifty guns, together with
several smaller, faster boats called 'patchers,' and a fleet of
merchantmen varying in number in different years. In the
time of Philip II often as many as forty ships supplied Car-
tagena and Porto Bello, but in succeeding reigns, although
the population of the Indies was rapidly increasing, American
commerce fell off so sadly that eight or ten were sufficient
for the trade of South and Central America. The general
of the galleons, on his departure, received from the Council
of the Indies three sealed packets. The first, opened at the
Canaries, contained the name of the island in the West Indies
at which the fleet was first to call. The second was un-
sealed after the galleons arrived at Cartagena, and contained
instructions for the fleet to return in the same year or to
winter in America. In the third, left unopened until the
fleet emerged from the Bahama Channel on the homeward
voyage, were orders for the route to the Azores and the
islands they should touch in passing, usually Corvo and
Flores or Santa Maria. . . .

"The fleet reached Cartagena ordinarily about two months
after its departure from Cadiz. On its arrival, the general
forwarded the news to Porto Bello, together with the packets
destined for the viceroy at Lima. From Porto Bello a
courier hastened across the Isthmus to the President of
Panama, who spread the advice amongst the merchants in
his jurisdiction, and, at the same time, sent a dispatch boat

284 PANAMA

to Payta, in Peru. The general of the galleons, meanwhile,
was also sending a courier overland to Lima, and another to
Santa Fe, the capital of the interior province of New Grenada,
whence runners carried to Popayan, Antioquia, Margarita,
and adjacent provinces, the news of his arrival. The
galleons were instructed to remain at Cartagena only a
month, but bribes from the merchants generally made it their
interest to linger for fifty or sixty days. To Cartagena came
the gold and emeralds of New Grenada, the pearls of Mar-
garita and Rancherias, and the indigo, tobacco, cocoa and
other products of the Venezuelan coast. The merchants of
Guatemala, likewise, shipped their commodities to Cartagena
by way of Lake Nicaragua and San Juan river, for they feared
to send goods across the Gulf of Honduras to Havana, be-
cause of the French and English buccaneers hanging about
Cape San Antonio. Meanwhile the viceroy at Lima, on
receipt of his letters, ordered the Armada of the South Sea
to prepare to sail, and sent word south to Chili and through-
out the province of Peru from Las Charces to Quito, to
forward the King's revenues for shipment to Panama.
Within less than a fortnight all was in readiness. The
Armada, carrying a considerable treasure, sailed from Callao
and, touching at Payta, was joined by the Navio del Oro
(golden ship), which carried the gold from the province of
Quito and adjacent districts. While the galleons were ap-
proaching Porto Bello the South Sea fleet arrived before
Panama, and the merchants of Chili and Peru began to
transfer their merchandise on mules across the high back
of the Isthmus.

"Then began the famous fair of Porto Bello. The town,
whose permanent population was very small and composed
mostly of negroes and mulattoes, was suddenly called upon
to accommodate an enormous crowd of merchants, soldiers
and seamen. Food and shelter were to be had only at

THE DATS OF THE GREAT TRADE 285

extraordinary prices. . . . Merchants gave as much as
1,000 crowns for a moderate-sized shop in which to sell their
commodities. Owing to overcrowding, bad sanitation, and
an extremely unhealthy climate, the place became an
open grave, ready to swallow all who resorted there. In
1637, during the fifteen days that the galleons remained at
Porto Bello, 500 men died of sickness. Meanwhile, day by
day, the mule-trains from Panama were winding their way
into the town. . . . While the treasure of the King of
Spain was being transferred to the galleons in the harbor,
the merchants were making their trade. There was little
liberty, however, in commercial transactions, for the prices
were fixed and published beforehand, and when negotiations
began exchange was purely mechanical. The fair, which was
supposed to be open for forty days, was in later times
generally completed in ten or twelve. At the beginning of
the eighteenth century the volume of business transacted
was estimated to amount to thirty or forty million pounds
sterling."

Fortunately we have a good description of the Isthmus
during the days of its commercial prosperity from the pen
of an Englishman. The Spanish government carried its
policy of excluding foreigners from the Indies to such an
extent that almost no one but Spaniards saw the colonial
cities except by stealth or as conquerors. But in the quaint
old volume "The English- American, his Travail by Sea and
Land, or a new Survey of the West Indies ... As also
of his strange and wonderful Conversion and Calling from
those remote Parts to his Native Country — By the true and
painful Endeavours of Thomas Gage, now Preacher of the
Word of God at Acris in the County of Kent" — we get a most
interesting inside view. Thomas Gage had a rare oppor-
tunity to visit the colonies and he had an equally rare gift
of description.

286 PANAMA

Born in England, he had been taken to the Continent at
an early age and was raised in the Catholic faith. He
entered the priesthood and in that capacity went to the
Indies. Passing through Mexico, he at last settled in
Guatemala.

Frangois Coreal, who visited the colonies as a smuggler
and has left a very vivacious account of his adventures,
wrote :

"«F avouie qu'il y a des Missionaires de bonne foi, qui
ont a coeur la gloire de Dieu & le salut des ames des Idolatres.
Ceux-la sont en petit nombre. Tous les autres cherchent
dans les conversions P augmentation de leurs revenus & leurs
profit temporal."

Thomas Gage was of the "petit nombre" "de bonne foi."
With true missionary zeal he had followed in the footsteps
of Las Casas and mastered the native dialects. He seems
to have known very little about Protestantism, but there
alone in the Central American jungle he had a little Reforma-
tion all by himself. Full of doubts about some of the dogmas
he was expected to teach, he resolved to go to Rome, and,
at the fountain head of his religion, find the truth.

But he had become so valuable to his superiors as an
interpreter that they would not grant him permission to
leave. For some months — with great travail of soul — he
remained at his post. Then he ran away. He made his
way on foot to the Pacific coast, after almost incredible
adventures; he got on shipboard in the Golfo de Salina,
"hoping to have been at Panama within five or six days.
But as often before we had been crossed, so likewise in this
short passage wee were striving with the Wind, Sea and Cor-
rientes, as they are called (which are swift streams as of
a River) foure full weeks."

From Panama he crossed to Puerto Bello, and finally got
ship for Europe. He left the Catholic Church and settled

THE DAYS OF THE GREAT TEADE 287

in England. He dedicated his book, which was published
in 1648, to "His Excellency Sr Thomas Fairfax, Knight,
Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Captain-General of the Parlia-
ment's Army; and of all their Forces in England and the
Dominion of Wales."

It is a remarkable book, the most interesting description
of the Indies I have found. Side by side he records shrewd,
almost scientific, observations of nature and the customs of
the Indians and gives vivid narrative of his manifold ad-
ventures and hair-breadth escapes. Interwoven through it
are theological discussions, and fascinating discourses they
are, for they are illumined by the soul-tragedy of this honest,
simple man, struggling desperately towards what he thought
to be salvation.

But the book interests us especially here, as it contains
the one reliable account which was written in our own lan-
guage of Panama and Puerto Bello in the Days of the Great
Trade. I have taken a few liberties with the arrangement
of his text to avoid tedious repetitions :

"Castella del Oro is situated in the very Isthmus, and is
not very populous by reason of the unhealthfulness of the
aire, and noisome savour of the standing pooles. The chief
places belonging to the Spaniards, are first Theonimay or
Nombre de Dios on the East, the second which is six leagues
from Nombre de Dios is Portobel, now chiefly inhabited by
Spaniards and Mulattoes and Black-mores, and Nombre de
Dios almost forsaken by reason of its unhealthfulnesse. . .
As I have before observed, the aire being here very un-
healthful, the King of Spain in the yeare 1584 commanded
that the houses ... be pulled downe and to be rebuild
in a more healthy and convenient place : which was performed
in ... Portobel. . . .

"The ships which were wont to anchor in Nombre de Dios,
and there take in the King's treasure which is yeerly brought

288 PANAMA

from Peru to Panama, and from thence to the North Sea,
now harbour themselves in Portobel; which signify eth
... a faire and goodly Haven, for so indeed it is, and well
fortified at the entrance with three Castles which can reach
and command one another . . .

"The third and chief e place belonging to the Spaniards in
Castilla del Oro is Panama . . . upon the South Sea."

After describing his life in the Guatemalan monastery,
his escape to the Golfo de Salina, and the "foure full weeks"
of desperate storms at sea he tells how at last they cast
anchor off the old town of Panama.

"I, being now well strengthened made no stay in that
frigot . . . but went to land, and betook myself to
the Cloister of the Dominicans, where I stayed almost fifteen
daies, viewing and reviewing the City; which is governed like
Guatemala by a President and six Judges, and a Court of
Chancery, and is a Bishops sea. It hath more strength
towards the South Sea, than any other Port which on that
side I hath seen, and some Ordinances planted for defence
of it; but the houses are of the least strength of any place that
I had entred in; for lime and stone is hard to come by, and
therefore for that reason, and for the great heat there, most
of the houses are built of timber and bords; the President's
house, nay the best Church walls are but bords, which serve
for stone and bricke, and for tiles to cover the roof. The heat
is so extraordinary that a linnen cut doublet, with some
light stuffe or taffetie breeches is the common cloathing of
the inhabitants. Fish, fruit and herbage for sallets is more
plentifull there than flesh ; the coole water of the Coco is the
womens best drinke, though Chocolate also and much wine
from Peru be very abounding. The Spaniards are in this
city much given to sinne, loosenesse and venery ... It
is held to be one of the richest places in all America, having
by land and by the river Chiagre (Chagres) commerce with

TEE DAYS OF THE GEEAT TEADE 289

the North Sea, and by the South, trading with all Peru,
East Indies, Mexico and Honduras. Thither is brought
the chief treasure of Peru in two or three great ships, which
lie at anchor at Puerto Perico some three leagues from the
City ... It consisteth of some five thousand in-
habitants, and maintaineth at least eight Cloisters of Nuns
and Friars. I feared much the heats, and therefore made
as much haste out of it as I could."

It was in 1637 that Gage made this visit to Panama. An
earlier description of the city was translated into English
and published by Hakluyt:

"Relation of the ports, harbors, forts, and cities in the
West Indies which have been surveied, edified, finished,
made and mended, with those which have been builded, in a
certaine survey by the king of Spaine, his direction and com-
mandment: Written by Baptista Antonio, surveyor in those
parts for the said King. Anno 1587."

After Sir Francis Drake's raids, this man Baptista Antonio
was sent out to advise the King about fortifying his colonial
possessions. The following passages are from his report:

"Panama is the principall citie of this Dioces: it lieth
18. leagues from Nombre de Dios on the South sea, and
standeth in 9. degrees. There are 3. Monasteries in this
said city of fryers, the one is of Dominicks, the other is of
Augustines, and the third is of S. Francis fryers: also there
is a College of Jesuits, and the royall audience or chancery is
kept in this citie.

"This citie is situated hard by the sea side on a sandy
bay: the one side of this citie is environed with the sea, and
on the other side it is enclosed with the arme of the sea
which runneth up into the land 1000. yards.

"This citie hath three hundred and fiftie houses, all built
of timber, and there are sixe hundred dwellers and eight
hundred souldiers with the townesmen, and foure hundred

290 PANAMA

Negros of Guyney, and some of them are freemen : and there
is another towne which is called Santa Cruz la Real of
Negros Simerons, and most of them are imployed in your
majesties service, and they are 100. in number, and this
towne is a league from this citie upon a great rivers side,
which is a league from the sea right over against the harbour
of Periocos. But there is no trust nor confidence in any of
these Negros, and therefore we must take heede and beware
of them, for they are our mortall enemies. . . .

"Upon the East side of this citie there are your majesties
royall houses builded upon a rocke joyning hard to the Sea
side, and they doe as well leane towards the sea as the land.
The royall audience or chancerie is kept here in these houses,
and likewise the prison. And in this place all your majesties
treasure is kept. There dwelleth in these houses your
majesties Treasurer, the Lord President, and 3. Judges, and
master Atturney. All these doe dwell in these houses, and
the rest of your majesties officers: which are sixe houses
beside those of the Lord President, the which are all dwelling
houses, and all ad joyning together one by another along upon
the rockes. And they are builded all of timber and bourdes,
as the other houses are. So where the prison standeth and
the great hall, these two places may bee very well fortified,
because they serve so fitly for the purpose, by reason
they are builded towardes the sea. . . .

"And forasmuch as the most part of these people are
marchants, they will not fight, but onely keepe their owne
persons in safetie, and save their goods; as it hath bene sene
heretofore in other places of these Indies.

"So if it will please your majesty to cause these houses
to bee strongly fortified, considering it standeth in a very
good place if any sudden alarms shoulde happen, then the
citizens with their goods may get themselves to this place,
and so escape the terrour of the enemy: and so this will be a

THE DATS OF THE GREAT TRADE 291

good securitie for all the treasure which doth come from
Peru. . . .

"Here in this harbor are alwayes 10 to 12 barks of 60 or
50 tunnes apiece, which do belong to this harbor."

It will be seen by a comparison of the two quotations how
rapidly the city had grown from 1,900, including the "sime-
rons, ' ? to 5,000 in fifty years. Apparently Gage is in error
in saying that even the best church was built of wood, for
the Cathedral of St. Anastasius must have been well under
way, if not already completed, when he wrote.

Esquemelin, in describing the city as it was in 1671, writes:

"There belonged to this city (which is also the head of a
bishopric) eight monasteries, whereof seven were for men
and one for women; two stately churches and one hospital.
The churches and monasteries were all richly adorned with
altar-pieces and paintings, huge quantity of gold and silver,
with other precious things; . . . Besides which orna-
ments, here were to be seen two thousand houses of mag-
nificent and prodigious building, being all of the greatest part
inhabited by merchants of that country, who are vastly
rich. For the rest of the inhabitants of lesser quality and
tradesmen, this city contained five thousand houses more.
Here were also great numbers of stables, which served for
the horses and mules, that carry all the plate, belonging as
well unto the King of Spain as to private men, towards the
coast of the North Sea. The neighbouring fields belonging
to this city are all cultivated and fertile plantations, and
pleasant gardens, which afford delicious prospects unto the
inhabitants the whole year long."

These are the three best accounts of the old city of Panama
by people whom we know to be giving first-hand accounts.

There is some doubt as to whether Frangois Coreal saw
the city before Morgan's Raid. But having first come to the
Indies in 1666, five years before the destruction of the place,

292 PANAMA

he must at least have received his information from people
who had been there. He writes :

"This city had seven or eight thousand houses, most of
which were of wood and thatch. The streets were quite
beautiful, large and regular. The great merchants occupied
the most beautiful houses of the city and nothing was lacking
in the magnificence of these gentlemen. There were eight
convents, a beautiful Cathedral Church and a Hospital
maintained by nuns. The Bishop was, as is still the case,
suffragant to the Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Tierra
Firme. The fields there were well cultivated. The suburbs
of the city were decorated by beautiful gardens and farms.
. . . As all the commerce of Chili and Peru has its
terminal port at Panama, the stores of the city are always
filled and the harbor is never without some ships."

One must make certain allowances for the imagination of
these early chroniclers. With equal seriousness they often
tell of Griffins and Sea Monsters. But on the whole they
were amazingly accurate in their descriptions of what they
actually saw.

Mr. Charles Francis Adams recently read a paper before
the Massachusetts Historical Society (Proceedings for May,
1911) in which he attempts to demolish the "Myth" of the
grandeur of old Panama City. He quotes several rather
exuberant descriptions of the place from modern writers and
picks them to pieces. For example, gives the following
from a recent book by Mr. Forbes-Lindsay :

"In its palmy days Old Panama was the seat of wealth and
splendor such as could be found nowhere else in the world
than the capitals of the Orient. At the court of the Governor
gathered noblemen and ladies of gentle birth. There were
upwards of seven thousand houses in the place, many of them
being spacious and splendidly furnished mansions. The
monasteries, convents and other ecclesiastical edifices were

THE DAYS OF THE GEE AT TEADE 293

numerous, and contained vast amounts of treasure in their
vaults. There were fine public buildings devoted to various
purposes, among them pretentious stables in which were
housed the ' King's horses.' "

And makes this comment on it:

"But, as a matter of fact, a remark might here not im-
properly be interjected to the effect that the horses in ques-
tion were in reality mules, and the stables — Latin-American
shacks!"

He gives in extenso the report of Baptista Antonio, from
which I have quoted, which, by the way, was written nearly
a century before the burning of the city. On the basis of
this account and his personal visits to the ruins, he concludes :

"In the first place, the topography of the site and sur-
roundings is as Antonio described it four centuries ago;
but the foundations and ruins still remaining of the struc-
tures— fortifications, ways, bridges and edifices — are at
variance with the statement that that town, as such, was ever
of considerable size. Limited to an area of at most two
hundred and fifty to three hundred acres, the ruins now re-
maining and the scattered fragments of tile show conclusively
that Panama Viejo never could have contained within its
limits either the buildings and dwellings, or the avenues,
streets and ways described. Both the public edifices and the
private houses were limited in size — of modest dimensions, as
we would phrase it — and, apparently, packed closely to-
gether. In place of the fifty thousand sometimes credited
to them, they never, on any reasonable estimate, could have
sufficed to accommodate a population in excess of seven
thousand. Ten thousand would be a maximum. The
foundations of 'the royal houses builded upon a rock' are
still there; so also those of the 'audience or chancerie,' as
likewise the prison; all 'adjoining together one by another
along upon the rocks.' But those foundations afford proof

294 PANAMA

positive of the dimensions of the superstructures. By their
proximity to each other, also, they show that there never
could have been any 'broad streets' or wide thoroughfares
in the town or approaching it; and the bridge, of which we
are informed that 'two or three piers' only remain, never
had but a single span, both short and narrow, thrown across
a contemptible mud-creek, almost devoid of water in the dry
season or at low tide; and that single span — a very pic-
turesque one, by the way — is still there. That a great store of
wealth for those days annually passed through Old Panama,
there can be no question. The place, was, however, merely a
channel; and, after a fairly close inspection, I do not hesitate
to repeat that the stories of its art, its population and its
treasures — generally of its size and splendor — constitute
about as baseless an historic fabric as the legions that fought
at Marathon or the myriads that followed Xerxes. Old Pan-
ama, as seen through the imagination of modern investiga-
tors, bears, I believe, just as much resemblance to the six-
teenth century reality as Francis Drake's Golden Hind would
bear to a present-day Atlantic liner, say the Lusitania."

No one can doubt the justice of much of this. But after
all Mr. Adams is attacking a straw man of his own creation.
No one who has written of " broad streets" in the old
metropolis meant to compare them to the Champs Elysees.
Nor is it contended that the houses were of magnificent
proportion in comparison with St. Peter's.

I am, however, inclined to question his conclusion when
he so positively limits the extent of the city. The site to-day
is overgrown with a dense tangle of tropical vegetation. It
would take amazing activity, and a host of machetemen
to reach — in two short visits — definite conclusions on this
point. Within less than a century after its abandonment,
Francois Coreal visited the site of Nombre de Dios, and
"de son ancienne magnificence" he writes he could find

TEE DATS OF THE GEE AT TEADE 295

nothing but its name. More than twice that time has
passed since Panama Viejo was deserted. Only the ruins
of some of the stone structures are visible above the ground.
Excavations into the sub-soil might possibly — if they were
extensive enough — definitely determine the limits of the
old town. And until archaeologists have seriously in-
vestigated the matter we can not put much weight on the
opinions of chance travellers as to how far a city of frame
houses, which decay so rapidly in the Tropics, extended.

Judged by the New York or London of to-day old Panama
was an insignificant place. But there were very few cities
of Europe which in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
had streets so broad and regular. There was certainly none
in the New World which could compare with it for com-
merce or wealth. It is easier to believe that the court
of the Governor was a magnificent medieval pageant of high
colors, fine Oriental silks and barbaric jewelry than to con-
ceive of the place through which so much wealth passed
as a contemptible group of hovels. Although, in our own day,
the best houses of the Klondike towns were frame shacks,
the courtesans wore gowns from Paris. And the ruined,
but stately tower of the Cathedral of St. Anastasius shows
beyond dispute that the metropolis of the Americas had
reached a stage of civilization far in advance of an Alaskan
mining camp.

After all, grandeur is a relative term, and no one who
speaks of the sordid Italian rapscallion as "The Magnificent
Borgia" can deny the same adjective to the "muy leal y muy
noble Ciudad de Panama."

Gage says, when he had decided to leave Panama: "I
had my choice of company by land and water to Portobel.
But considering the hardnesse of the mountaines by land,
I resolved to goe by the river Chiagre; and so at midnight
I set out from Panama to Venta de Cruzes, which is ten or

296 PANAMA

twelve leagues from it. The way is thither very plaine for
the most part, and pleasant in the morning and evening.

" Before ten of the clock, we got to Venta de Cruzes, where
lived none but Mulatto's and Black-mores, who belong unto
the flat-boat es that carry the merchandize to Portobel.
There I had very good entertainment by the people, who
desired me to preach unto them the next Sabbath day and
gave me twenty Crownes for my Sermon, and Procession.
After five days of my abode there, the boats set out, which
were much stopped in their passage downe the river; for in
some places we found the water very low, so that the boats ran
upon the gravell;from whence with poles and the strength of
the Black-mores they were to be lifted off againe . . . Had
not it pleased God to send us after the first week plentifull
raine, which made the water to run downe from the mountains
and fill the river (which otherwise of itself is very shallow) we
might have had a tedious and long passage; but after twelve
days we got to sea, and at the point landed at the Castle
to refresh ourselves for halfe a day. . . ." After telling
of the dilapidated condition of the Castle San Lorenzo at
the mouth of the Chagres, "which in my time wanted great
reparations, and was ready to fall downe to the ground,"
he continues, "The Govenour of the Castle was a notable
wine-bibber, who plyed us with that liquor the time that we
stayed there, and wanting a Chaplain for himself e, and
Souldiers, would faine have had me stay with him; but greater
matters called me further, and so I tooke my leave of him,
who gave us some dainties of fresh meat, fish and conserves
and so dismissed us. We got out to the open sea, discovering
first the Escuedo de Veragua, and keeping somewhat close
unto the land, we went on rowing towards Portobel, till the
evening which was Saturday night; then we cast anchor
behind a little Island, resolving in the morning to enter in
Portobel. The Black-mores all that night kept watch for

THE DAYS OF THE GEE AT TRADE 297

fear of Hollenders, whom they said did often lie in wait there
abouts for the boats of Chiagre; but we passed the night
safely and next morning got to Portobelo, whose haven
we observed to be very strong with two Castles at the mouth
and constant watch within them, and another called St.
Miguel further in the Port . . .

"When I came into the Haven I was sorry to see that as
yet the Galeons were not come from Spaine, knowing that
the longer I stayed in that place, greater would be my
charges. Yet I comforted myselfe that the time of year
was come, and that they could not long delay their coming.
My first thoughts were of taking up a lodging, which at that
time were plentifull and cheape, nay some were offered me
for nothing with this caveat, that when the Galeons did come,
I must either leave them, or pay a dear rate for them. A
kind Gentleman, who was the Kings Treasurer, falling in
discourse with me promised to help me, that I might be
cheaply lodged even when the ships came, and lodgings
were at the highest rate. He, interposing his authority,
went with me to seeke one, which at the time of the fleets
being there, might continue to be mine. It was no bigger
than would containe a bed, a table, a stoole or two, with
roome enough beside to open and shut the doore, and they
demanded of me for it during the aforesaid time of the fleet,
sixcore Crownes, which commonly is a fortnight. For the
Towne being little, and the Souldiers, that come with the
Galeons for their defence at least four or five thousand;
besides merchants from Peru, from Spain and many other
places to buy and sell, is cause that every roome, though
never so small, be dear; and sometimes all the lodgings in
the Towne are few enough for so many people, which at that
time doe meet at Portobel. I knew a Merchant who gave
a thousand Crownes for a shop of reasonable bignesse, to
sell his wares and commodities that yeer I was there, for

298 PANAMA

fifteen dales only, which the Fleet continued to be in that
Haven. I thought it much for me to give the sixcore
Crownes which were demanded of me for a room, which was
but as a mouse hole, and began to be troubled, and told the
Kings Treasurer that I had been lately robbed at sea, and
was not able to give so much, and bee besides at charges for
my diet, which I feared would prove as much more. But
not a farthing would be abated of what was asked; where
upon the good Treasurer, pitying me, offered to the man of
the house to pay him threescore Crowns of it, if so be that I
was able to pay the rest, which I must doe, or else lie without
in the street. Yet till the Fleet did come I would not enter
into this deare hole, but accepted of another faire lodging
which was offered me for nothing. Whilst I thus expected
the Fleets coming, some money and offerings I got for
Masses, and for two Sermons which I preached at fifteen
Crownes a peece. I visited the Castles, which indeed
seemed unto me to be very strong; but what most I wondered
at was to see the requa's of Mules which came thiether from
Panama, laden with wedges of silver; in one day I told two
hundred mules laden with nothing else, which were unladen in
the publicke Market-place, so that there the heapes of
silver wedges lay like heaps of stones in the street, without
any feare or suspition of being lost. Within ten daies the
fleet came, consisting of eight Galeons and ten Merchant
ships, which forced me to run to my hole. It was a wonder
then to see the multitude of people in those streets which
the weeke before had been empty.

"Then began the price of all things to rise, a fowl to be
worth twelve Rialls, which in the mainland within I had often
bought for one; a pound of beefe then was worth two Rialls,
whereas I had in other places thirteen pounds for half a
Riall, and so of all other food and provisions, which was so
excessively dear, that I knew not how to live but by fish and

TEE DAYS OF THE GEE AT TRADE 299

Tortoises, which were very many, and though somewhat
deare, yet were the cheapest meat I could eate."

Once more the testimony of Frangois Coreal concurs with
that of the English writer.

"At the time of the arrival of the Galleons," he writes,
"provisions rise to an extraordinary price, and lodgings are
so dear during the twenty or twenty-five days when they
load and unload the merchandise that the citizens who rent
apartments make as much or more profit than those who
come to trade."

"It was worth seeing," Gage continues, "how Merchants
sold their commodities, not by the Ell or yard, but by piece
and weight, not paying in coined pieces of money, but in
wedges, which were weighed and taken for commodities.
This lasted but fifteen dayes, whilst the Galeons were lading
with wedges of silver and nothing else; so that for those fifteen
daies I dare boldly say and avouch that in the world there
is no greater Fair than that of Portobel, between the Span-
ish Merchants and those of Peru, Panama, and other places
there about."

Here Gage breaks off his narrative for a long theological
discourse. One might say that having given a description
of the physical aspects of Puerto Bello, he adds a picture of
the psychology of the town in his times.

The point, about which most of his own religious doubts
centered, was the doctrine of Transubstantiation. This
dogma of the church had long troubled him and it was
especially on this matter that he hoped to find light in Rome,
in the hope of which he had risked the anger of his superiors
and a so dangerous journey.

During the course of a mass which he celebrated during
these fifteen days an incident occurred which he discusses at
length and which was the cause of his conversion to Protes-
tantism. Just before the climax of the mystery, the priest

300 PANAMA

steps back from the altar and repeats a prayer of self-
consecration called the " Memento." At this point in the
ritual, Gage heard a slight noise on the altar and opening his
eyes he saw a mouse running away with the consecrated wafer.

Gage tells us that for a moment he was immensely
frightened for his own safety. As an Englishman he was
tolerated on account of his calling, but there were many
Spaniards in those superstitious days who firmly believed that
England was an annex of Hell and that all men of that race
were lineal descendants of the Father of Lies. To make
known what had happened would surely cause a great
sensation, and very likely the fanatical mob might hold him
responsible for the incident which all would regard as
an appalling sacrilege. On the other hand, the one sin
which the Inquisition held to be the most heinous was any
tampering with the sacraments. In such matters they were
frigid formalists and no excuse counterbalanced the slightest
violation of the letter of the ritual. If Gage had gone on
with the ceremony and anyone had seen the accident, he
would run a very good chance of the stake. He decided
that the populace was less to be feared than the Inquisition.
He stopped the mass and calling for aid gave chase to the
mouse. The frightened animal dropped the "hostie" and es-
caped. The sacred wafer was found on the floor of the chancel.

As Gage had foreseen there was a great hue and cry. There
were fasts and special services to propitiate the wrath, which
every one felt the Most High must feel at this sacrilege.
However Gage escaped with his life and had time to think
the thing out. He concluded: "Now here I knew that this
Mouse had fed upon some substance, or else how could
the markes of the teeth so plainely appear? But no Papist
will bee willing to answer that it fed upon the substance of
Christs Body, ergo, by good consequence it followes that it
fed upon the substance of bread: and so Transubstantiation

THE DAYS OF THE GEEAT TEADE 301

here in my judgment was confuted by a Mouse; which mean
and base creature God chose to convince mee of my former
errours, and made mee now resolve upon what many yeeres
before I had doubted, that certainly the point of Transub-
stantiation taught by the Church of Rome is most damnable
and erroneous."

While Gage's logic will not be very convincing to the
modern mind, it gives us an interesting insight into how the
men of his day thought. He changed his religious faith be-
cause a miracle did not happen. A skeptic of our day might
be converted if he saw lightning come down from Heaven
and blast such an impious mouse. Gage's mind worked in a
manner exactly opposite. His whole philosophy was changed,
and his book shows that he thought earnestly, because the
"Natural Order" was not interfered with as he thought
he had a right to expect.

Having described his conversion, he returns to the narra-
tive :

"Don Carlos de Ybarra, who was the Admirall of that
Fleet, made great haste to bee gone; which made the Mer-
chants buy and sell apace, and lade the ships with silver
wedges; whereof I was glad, for the more they laded, the lesse
I unladed my purse with buying deare provisions, and
sooner I hoped to be out of that unhealthy place, which it-
self e is very hot, and subject to breed Feavers, nay death,
if the feet bee not preserved from wetting when it raineth;
but especially when the Fleet is there, it is an open grave
ready to swallow in part of that numerous people, which
at that time resort unto it, as was seene the yeare that I was
there, when about five hundred of the Soldiers, Merchants,
and Mariners, what with Feavers, what with Flux caused
by too much eating of fruit and drinking of water, what with
other disorders lost their lives, finding it to bee to them
not Porto bello, but Porto malo."

CHAPTER XVIII

PRIVATEERS AND PIRATES

THE effort of the Spanish government to exclude all for-
eigners from any share in this fat traffic was, of course, fore-
doomed to failure. In fact, the rigor with which they enforced
the prohibitions against interlopers was the immediate cause
of great loss.

Early in the latter half of the sixteenth century an English
trading vessel approached the harbor of Vera Cruz in Mexico.
They sent a request to the governor for permission to enter
and sell their cargo. That worthy gentleman, believing that
if he refused to admit them, they would surely smuggle their
goods ashore, invited them to drop anchor, and, having them
under the guns of his fort, confiscated their ship and mer-
chandise and for a while held the crew in prison.

One of the English sailors — the son of a Protestant min-
ister and the oldest of twelve brothers — was Francis Drake.
He finally made his way back to Europe and spent consider-
able time in trying to get some restitution from the Spanish
government. Failing in this, he decided to collect what was
due him — and all possible interest — and at the same time
revenge himself for his foul treatment, by force.

He made two piratical trips to the Indies in a small, fast
vessel, the Swan. His prizes were insignificant. He made
so little noise on these cruises that it is hard to find any
record of them. But his main object was to secure informa-
tion.

In 1570 he secured recognition in the English Court and
302

PEIVATEEES AND PIRATES 303

Queen Elizabeth granted him "Letters of Marque" to cruise
against the Spaniards. It is possible that he may have had
similar commissions for his earlier cruises — the point is
uncertain — but from now on he was a reputable " privateer"
and not a "pirate." It is a distinction with no difference
except of social position. A "privateer" could be a national
hero, while a "pirate" could be the hero only of "the lower
classes." The former had the entree to Court, the latter
had to be contented with the adulation of cheap ale-houses.

What England thought of Drake is shown by a little
volume published in 1653 entitled "Sir Francis Drake
Revived, Who is or may be a Pattern to stirre up all Heroicke
and active Spirits of these Times, to benefit their Country
and eternize their Names by like Noble Attempts. . . .
Calling upon this Dull and Effeminate Age to follow his
Noble Steps for Gold and Silver."

Backed by his new commission he fitted out a more
formidable expedition. A small one, indeed, for the work in
hand, but well planned. In the spring of 1572, he was ready
to sail, having his old ship, The Swan, and a new one, The
Pascha.

"Having in both of them," writes the author of the book
already referred to, "of men and boyes seventy-three, all
voluntarily assembled, of which the eldest was fifty, all the
rest under thirty. . . ." The ships were "both richly
furnished, with victuals and apparell for a whole yeer; and
no lesse heedfully provided of all manner of Munition,
Artillery, Artificers, stuffe and tooles, that were requisite
for such a Man of war in such an attempt, but especially
having three dainty Pinnases, made in Plimouih, taken
asunder all in peices and stowed aboard, to be set up as
occasion served."

They sailed without mishap to an uninhabited harbor on
the coast of the Isthmus about half way between Nombre

304 PANAMA

de Dios and Carthagena, which they reached on the 12th of
July. Drake had visited the place on one of his former
cruises in the Swan and had chosen it for a base of opera-
tions. But on landing they found a sheet of lead nailed to
a tree "greater than any four men, joyning hands, could
fathom about." On this piece of lead was scratched this
message :

"Captain Drake, if you fortune to come to this Port,
make hast away: For the Spanyards, which you had with
you here the last year, have bewrayed this place, and
taken away all that you left here. I departed from hence
this present 7. of luly, 1572.

"Your very loving friend

"lohn Garret."

This warning caused Drake to hunt out some other
secluded cove — the coast abounds in them — and there he
took out his "three dainty Pinnases" and had them "set
up" by his artificers.

Very little time was lost before he was under way for his
famous attempt on Nombre de Dios. It must be remembered
that this was the first enterprise of its kind. The English
had not yet become accustomed to attacking fortified Span-
ish towns with a handful of men. These young men — all
"under thirty," however stout their hearts, must have felt
it an exceedingly desperate venture.

During the night the three Pinnases — most of the crew
hiding in the bottom — slipped into the harbor. One of their
number who could speak Spanish answered the hail from the
fort saying that they were from Cartagena. And so, getting
safely past the cannon, they attacked the town. A small
number of them stayed to guard the boats and the main
body quickly mastered the place. There was very little
fighting. The only resistance was in the Plaza where, our

PBIVATEEES AND PIEATES 305

author writes, "the Souldiers and such as were joyned with
them presented us with a jolly hot volley of shot." But the
first charge dispersed this force.

It is hard from the chronicles to determine who were
more afraid, the townspeople or the invaders. The English
apparently could not believe that they had taken the city
so easily. As they met no large portion of the garrison, they
supposed that they were lying somewhere in ambush. A
rumor started that an attack was being made on the boats
and that their retreat was cut off. Only with great effort
could Drake prevent a stampede. He alone kept his head
and, having gone to so much trouble, he was not going to
be frightened into dropping his booty. Sending some of his
men to support the guard on the water front, and posting
sentries in various places, he led the main body of his men
to the king's treasure house, which they broke open and there
"we saw a huge heape of silver, . . . being a pile of bars of
silver, of (as neere as we could guesse) seventy foot in length,
of ten foot in breadth, and twelve foot in height, piled up
against the wall, each barre was between thirty-five and forty
pound in weight."

But at this juncture, Drake, who had been wounded in
that "jolly hot volley of shot," fainted from loss of blood.
Panic at once fell on the privateers and, carrying their uncon-
scious leader to the boats, they made off. Their retreat was
so hurried, in fact, that they forgot some of the sentries,
who had to swim out to their boats. The Spanish garrison,
instead of having rallied to attack them, had not yet stopped
running.

What Drake said to his men when he recovered conscious-
ness and found that they had let this rich booty slip through
his fingers is not recorded.

They returned to the secret harbor where they had left
their ships, and very shortly set out again, this time for

306 PANAMA

Cartagena. But that city, much more strongly fortified and
garrisoned than Nombre de Dios, had been warned, and
Drake's force was not strong enough to attempt to take it
by assault. He contented himself with cutting out some of
the shipping from under the guns of the fortress and sailed
away. For a while he lay quiet in his secluded headquarters
hoping that the Spaniards would think he had left the coast
and so relax their vigilance.

But the fame of his attack on Nombre de Dios had spread
through the Isthmus and gained him unexpected allies. The
Indians of the eastern end of the Isthmus had never, since
the days of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, been at peace with the
Spaniards. The English were evidently enemies of their
enemies, and therefore their friends. Another element of
the population, as bitter against the Spaniards as the In-
dians, were the "Cimarrones." The origin of this word has
not been satisfactorily explained. It is spelt in a dozen
different ways in the old books. It was the name given by
the Spaniards to the escaped negro slaves, who lived banded
together in the jungle. The Indians seem to have welcomed
these fugitives from the Spanish injustice and to have helped
them in establishing villages and in planting bananas and
plantains. These groups of freed slaves were even a greater
menace to the colonists than the Indians. Their chiefs
visited Drake's headquarters and entered into an alliance
with him.

Together with these negroes, Drake planned an adventure
even more daring than his assault on Nombre de Dios. The
native spies brought word that a ship had come from Peru
to Panama loaded down with treasure. Drake, with eighteen
Englishmen and a mixed company of Indians and Cimarrones
started inland to intercept the treasure train on its way
across the Isthmus.

It was on this trip that Drake got his first sight of the

PEIVATEEES AND PIRATES 307

Pacific. A Cimarrone brought him to a hilltop, very prob-
ably within the limits of our Canal Zone, from which by
climbing a tall tree he could see the Ocean to the south.
The chronicle says that he fell on his knees and prayed
Almighty God to grant him life until he could sail in those
waters on an English ship. One of the men who was with
him at this time and who also saw the Pacific was John
Oxenham, of whom we will hear more.

Near this place there was a large fortified camp of the
Cimarrones. Drake and his men stayed there while one of
the negroes, passing himself off as a slave, entered Panama
and secured definite information about the time set for the
departure of the treasure train. On the appointed night —
most of the transportation was done at night to avoid the
excessive heat — Drake ambushed his men on both sides of
the trail. They had all put their shirts on outside their
breast plates so as to be easily distinguishable in the dark.
The instructions were to lie quiet until the mule train had
passed and so cut off any chance of its retreat to Panama.
The force was strung out for a considerable distance, each
white man accompanied by two or three natives. And so
they sat in the obscurity of the jungle and waited. Doubt-
lessly the mosquitoes made things uncomfortable for them.
And in their armor they must have found the heat oppressive.

Presently the tinkle of mule-bells came from the direction
of Panama. In a few minutes a man on foot came into the
sight of the first Englishman. This cut-throat seems to have
drunk too copiously of the insidious liquor which the Indians
brew from sugar-cane. Instead of obeying orders, he
abruptly stood up. His Cimarrone comrades pulled him
down again, but it was too late. The Spaniard, scared by
the apparition beyond the power to cry out, ran full speed
back toward the city. The tinkling of the mule-bells
ceased. The convoy halted to listen to the wild story of a

308 PANAMA

white-robed ghost who had suddenly faced the foot pas-
senger. The Spanish captain did not believe in ghosts, but
still he could not explain a white-robed figure on the hillside.
He probably did not suspect that Drake would have the
audacity to come so near Panama, but anyhow discretion
was an easy virtue; there was a train of mules loaded with
grain behind him. It would be just as well to let them
go first. So he ordered them to pass on, and the tinkling of
mule-bells was heard again.

Meanwhile Drake and those of his followers who were
sober had no idea of what had happened. This time every-
thing took place according to schedule. The mule-train was
allowed to proceed until the last one's retreat was cut off.
Drake gave the signal. "St. George and Merrie England"
rang out through the jungle and almost without a blow these
doughty warriors of Good Queen Bess had captured several
dozen bushels of fodder.

One almost hopes that Drake hung the drunken fool who
spoiled it all. Such a daring venture — even if it was robbery
— ought not to be defeated by such a banal blunder.

Balked once more of his loot Drake returned to his head-
quarters and knowing that now the country would be thor-
oughly aroused, he threw off the mask. He went again to
Cartagena, cut up some more shipping in that harbor,
exchanged insulting pleasantries with the governor, and
cruised up and down the coast, doing all the damage he could.

But he was not willing to leave without striking some big
game. In March, 1573, he was joined by a crew of French
corsairs and, once more in alliance with the Cimarrones, he
planned to intercept some of the treasure coming across the
Isthmus. This time, instead of penetrating so far into the
interior, he laid his ambush just outside of Nombre de Dios.
I quote the narrative from another Drake book, "The
English Hero," published in 1756.

PRIVATEERS AND PIRATES 309

"Coming within a Mile of the Highway they refresh'd
themselves all Night, hearing many Carpenters working on
the Ships (because of the great Heat by Day) at Nombre de
Dios; next Morning, April 1, 1573, they extreamly rejoiced
to hear the Mules coming with a great Noise of Bells, hoping,
though they were formerly disappointed, they should now
have more Gold and Silver than they could carry away, as
accordingly happened, for soon after there came three
Recoes, one of fifty Mules, and two more of seventy in each
Company, every one carrying three hundred Pound Weight
of Silver, amounting in all to about thirty Tun; they soon
prepared to go into the Highway hearing the Bells, and seized
upon the first and last Mules, to try what Metal they carried.
These three Recoes had a Guard of about forty-five Soldiers,
fifteen to each, which caused the Exchange of some Shot
and Arrows at first, wherein the French captain was sorely
wounded with Hail Shot in his Belly, and one Symeron slain;
but the Soldiers retiring for more Help, left their Mules, and
the English took pains to ease some of them of their Burdens
and, being weary, contented themselves with as many Bars
and Wedges of Gold as they could well carry away, burying
above fifty Tun of Silver in the Sands, and under old Trees :
having in two Hours ended their Business, they prepared to
return."

It is considerable of a tax on the imagination to under-
stand how, when the mules only carried thirty tons of silver,
the English buried fifty tons of it. The story is further com-
plicated by the fact that if they were within sound of the
carpenter's hammers in the harbor it is hardly probable that
they were allowed two solid uninterrupted hours for their
"business." It would further be an amazing feat to bury
two hundred mule loads of anything in so short a time. This
is a fairly good sample of some of the gush which the English
pass out as history of their naval heroes.

310 PANAMA

However, although most of the details of this story as
given in "The English Hero" are incredible, the fact is well
established that Drake made this raid successfully and that
his company, after many more adventures, regained their
ships with all the gold they could carry.

For three months more he hung about in those waters and
early in August, 1573, started back for Plymouth. Besides
his raids on the mainland he had captured over a hundred
Spanish merchant vessels. His reception in England was
enthusiastic.

He at once set about organizing an expedition into the
Pacific. But his wish to be the first Englishman to sail in
that Ocean was forestalled by Oxenham, who had been with
him when he first saw the new sea. Oxenham collected a
crew of adventurers in 1575 and sailed again to the Isthmus.
With the aid of the Indians and Cimarrones he crossed the
mountains by very nearly the same route as Balboa, and,
launching out on the Gulf of San Miguel in native dug-outs,
soon captured a small sailing-vessel; getting aboard of their
prize they cruised about until they encountered a larger ship.
They repeated the process several times, until at last they
captured the famous "navio del oro," the "ship of gold,"
which brought up the bullion from the Peruvian mines.
This was the first time an enemy had threatened the Span-
iards in the Pacific, and they were entirely unprepared to
protect themselves. So at first Oxenham had easy success.
But finally, stirred up by the loss of their richest treasure
ship, the Spaniards rallied. Oxenham had a series of mis-
haps, bad weather and sickness, his overbearing manner had
alienated the native allies, and his raid came to a disastrous
end. Those of his company who did not die of famine or
disease were captured and either executed in Panama or
sent in chains to Spain. Most of the treasure was recovered.

On November 15, 1577, Drake sailed from England again.

PEIVATEEES AND PIEATES 311

He cleared the Straits of Magellan, ten months later —
September, 1578 — sacked half a dozen towns on the west
coast of South America — why he did not "attempt" Panama
is not clear — collected an immense amount of booty, and
tailed up the Californian coast to the 43° North. Then
turning south again he crossed the Pacific and rounding the
•Cape of Good Hope, brought the Golden Hind to anchor in
Plymouth in September, 1580.

Five years later war was declared with Spain, and Drake
— now an admiral in the regular navy — sailed from Plymouth
with twenty-five warships. He landed at Santo Domingo
and spared the city in consideration of 25,000 ducats. He
then visited Cartagena and extracted a ransom of 145,000
pesos.

Here news of the outfitting of the great Armada in Spain
caused him to be called home. So, after only six months of
pillage in the West Indies, he returned reluctantly to Eng-
land. It was two years before the Armada really materialized.

For several years after this Drake was idle, but in 1595
he again went to sea. On August 28th he set sail with six
government warships, twenty-one privateers and 2,500 men.
He met his first serious repulse in Puerto Rico. A desperate
attempt to capture, the fortress of San Juan failed disas-
trously, and he sailed to the mainland. On the whole it was
an unsuccessful voyage. The cities he captured could not
or would not pay the ransoms he demanded. One after
another he was forced to burn Rancheria, Rio de le Hacha,
Santa Marta and Nombre de Dios. They were all scantily
fortified and helpless before his strong armament. The
captains of his men-of-war may have been satisfied with the
glory, but it was very poor picking for his twenty-one priv-
ateers. Another setback came to him on the Isthmus.
From Nombre de Dios he tried to send a land force across
to sack Panama. They became hopelessly entangled in the

312 PANAMA

jungle and were beaten back more by the dense vegetation
and swamps than by the Spaniards, who did little beyond
butchering the stragglers.

From Nombre de Dios Drake sailed to Puerto Bello. The
fortifications of that harbor were not so formidable as at
San Juan de Puerto Rico, but still there was a chance for a
real fight. But on the 28th of January, 1596, just as the
English were about to attack the city, Sir Francis Drake
died in his cabin. He was buried in the mouth of the harbor.
The fleet having lost its leader, lost heart as well, and sailed
back to England.

Drake was a great sea-captain. He seems to have suc-
ceeded somewhat better in the adventures he undertook
with small forces than when acting as admiral of a large fleet.
He was entirely free from the wanton cruelty which clouded
the brilliant achievements of the buccaneers. He was not
at heart a pirate. Although he always harbored a bitter
resentment against the Spaniards for their mistreatment of
him at Vera Cruz, still he seems to have generally treated
his captives as prisoners of war. Some of his raids were com-
mitted in times of nominal peace between his sovereign and
the Spanish throne, but he seems to have always thought
of himself as engaged in honorable warfare. When a man
has so many real achievements to his credit, it is rather dis-
tressing to read of the fantastic and unreal adventures
ascribed to him by his countrymen.

But it is impossible to exaggerate the fear which his name
carried throughout the Spanish colonies.

Mr. G. Jenner has translated some interesting sections
relating to him from the works of a Spanish historian, Fray
Pedro Simon. This author is very much more temperate
in his language than most of the Spaniards who mention
Drake, and the quotations give a good example of what the
more intelligent people of Latin- America thought of him.

PEIVATEEES AND PIE ATE S 313

After the raids on the Isthmus in 1572 and 1573, this
writer says: " Drake returned to London, where he arrived
with much plunder after a prosperous voyage. He was
received there with the applause that commonly gratifies
wealth, and even the queen favored him with excessive
demonstrations and greater courtesy than became her royal
person. After all, however, that was woman-like and due
somewhat to her covetousness and to the desire of putting
her arms up to the elbow into the great plunder brought home
by the Protestant."

After having made his voyage of circumnavigation, Fray
Simon says that Drake bought an estate and attempted to
settle down, "but all this was like drinking salt water, for,
as we shall see, the thirst of his covetousness was in no way
quenched. . . .

"Considering the condition of man degraded by sin and
incapable of resisting temptation of greed, we need not
wonder that the acquisition of goods should lead to the desire
to add to them, especially amongst those who know neither
law nor God. . . ."

Of the 1586 expedition he writes: "For thirty days
the heretical pirate held the city (Santo Domingo), his
Lutheran ministers preaching their creed, and constant
festivities going on. The Protestant would send from time
to time for some of the fugitives, with whom he conversed
in jovial and conceited tones, jeering at the fear of our people,
who had allowed his fatigued and harassed soldiers to take
possession of their town without resistance, and attacking
our Christian religion to justify his heresies and robberies."
During the occupation of Cartagena, on the same expedition,
he writes that "the images painted on the walls of these
churches were exposed to pitiful insults, and the tenets of
Luther were preached on the terraces of the Government
House."

314 PANAMA

When he gets to the last expedition of Drake, the good
father becomes even more indignantly eloquent. After
describing the burning of Rio de la Hacha, Santa Marta and
Nombre de Dios, he says: 'Of all his wickedness the one
he indulged in with especial satisfaction was the use of fire,
as if he were preparing himself for the flames that would
torture him in hell. . . ." Describing his death before
Puerto Bello, which he, apparently without any reason, as-
cribes to poison, he writes: "Then his tongue congealed: his
mouth became scarlet and distorted, giving issue (if that be
the exit) to that lost soul that hastened direct to hell."

But the death of Drake by no means relieved the Spanish
colonies from the terror of the "heretical pirates." In a very
rare book published in London in 1740 called "A geograph-
ical Description of Coasts, Harbors and Sea Ports of the
Spanish West Indies" by D. G. Carranza, there is an appen-
dix in which Captain William Parker describes his assault
on Puerto Bello. He was one of the first upon whom fell
the mantle of the great Sir Francis.

He sailed from Plymouth in 1601 with two ships, two
shallops, a pinnace and two hundred men. He touched the
mainland first in what is now Venezuela, near the spot where
Las Casas tried to found his knightly colony; here Parker
picked up a load of pearls valued at 2,500 pesos. Then off
the Cape de la Vela he overhauled a Portuguese slave-ship
for which he accepted a ransom of another 2,500 pesos.

On the 7th of February, 1602, he reached Puerto Bello.
This large harbor was protected by two formidable forts on
each side of the entrance which, as Thomas Gage said, could
with their cannon "reach and command one another." "The
Place where my Shippes roade," says Parker, "beinge the
rock where Sir Francis Drake his coffin was throwne over-
boarde."

By the time-worn trick of hailing the sentries in Spanish

PRIVATE ESS AND PIE ATE '8 315

he got his little fleet past the forts during the night and at
once began the attack. The first party ashore met with an
even jollier "hot volley of shot" than that which was pre-
sented to Drake in Nombre de Dios. It killed or wounded
all but nine of the English.

"But," says the Captain — and he seems to have been a
very pious man — " God did prosper our Proceedings mightilie,
for the first two shott which went out from us shot Malendus
(the Governor of Puerto Bello) through his Targett, and
went throughe both his Armes, and the other Shott hurted
the Corporall of the Fielde, whereupon they all retired to
their House, which they made good untill it was almost
daie."

But when all his men had come up, Parker was able to
drive them out of their last stronghold and was free to sack
the city. They gathered 10,000 ducats worth of spoil. If
they had arrived a week earlier they would have captured a
far richer prize, for on the 1st of February a treasure ship had
left the port carrying 120,000 ducats in bullion. To get away
with their plunder they had to run the forts, which were
much too strong for their small force to assault.

"But God so wrought for us," he says, "that we safely
gott forthe againe contrarie to the expectations of our
Enemies."

Although Parker, like Drake, was more of a privateer than
pirate, it soon became impossible to distinguish between the
"profession" and the "trade." As early as 1531, French
corsairs began to infest the Caribbean Sea. When their own
country was at war with Spain they flew the French flag.
But once having tasted the wild life of privateering, it was
difficult for them to settle down to quiet industry when a
temporary peace interfered with their lucrative enterprises.
They got into the habit of switching their allegiance to what-
ever country was embroiled with Spain. Every really enter-

316 PANAMA

prising sea-rover had at least four or five commissions from
different countries in his chest. And as the spell of their
adventurous life grew upon them they became less and less
careful to preserve the forms of honorable war. What was
true of the French privateers was equally true of the English.
The "heretical pirates" of the sixteenth century were
honored war-dogs of the Good Queen Bess, carrying on the
desperate war for national existence and religious freedom
against the archenemy. Drake and Parker — according to
the standards of their day — were gentlemen. The "heretical
pirates" of the next century were a decidedly lower order
of men.

CHAPTER XIX

THE BUCCANEERS

THE etymology of the word " buccaneer" has led many
historians astray.

The Indians called the meat which they preserved by
smoking "buccan." Just as the Spanish horse developed
into wild herds on our Western plains, so their cattle multi-
plied very rapidly on the islands of Santo Domingo and
Cuba. " Buccan" was in great demand for victualling the
ships. And gradually a trade grew up, of men, almost as
wild as the cattle they hunted, who went out into the unin-
habited savanahs and jungle to kill and cure meat to supply
the towns. The French, who had settled on one end of
Santo Domingo — using their regular suffix — coined the word
" buccaneer" as a name for these cattle hunters.

It was not a remunerative trade. The men who followed
it were the jetsam of colonial society; criminals, who feared
the justice of the towns; misanthropists, who preferred the
open solitude beyond the frontiers to the press of their fellow
men. From what we know of them they seem to have been
vagabonds rather than desperadoes. The name came to be
used like our American word " tramp." If anyone missed
a silver spoon, or if the washing was blown off the line, it
was blamed on these irresponsible cow-hunters. And it
was the same when a derelict burnt down to the water's edge
was encountered at sea; the respectable people shook their
heads and said, " Surely it was the Buccaneers."

But the chroniclers of the sea-rovers, Exquemelin, Wafer,
317

318 PANAMA

Dampier, Ringrose and the others, do not show that the
crews of buccaneer ships were to any large extent recruited
from these men who killed the wild cattle and peddled the
"buccan" in the towns. These poor devils did nothing
much for the pirates but give them a name.

The men who sailed with Mansfield, Morgan and Sharpe
had very few of them done such an innocent thing as kill
cattle since they had reached the age of sixteen.

It would take us too far afield to analyze the character of
the population in the colonies. Spain, alone of the Euro-
pean nations, made any effort to send a substantial class of
people to the Indies. It was a perfunctory effort, no doubt,
but the other countries frankly made the New World a
dumping-ground for criminals. The French, Dutch and
English, all had penal colonies in the Antilles. The inden-
tured servants were notoriously a wild lot. And very many
of the free citizens had left home in haste — just in time to
preserve their freedom.

It was not difficult to gather half a hundred cut-throats
in any American port; more than one pirate ship in later
years sailed from Plymouth colony. The privateers, the
heroes of the British navy, showed the way. The habit of
applauding rapine on the Spanish Main had become so deep-
seated in England that no serious effort was made to check
the piracy which had its headquarters in Jamaica until well
along towards the close of the seventeenth century.

But piracy was by no means confined to one nationality.
As a general proposition it was considered legitimate for
any Protestant to prey on the subjects of His Most Catholic
Majesty. This gave free license to practically all English-
men and Hollanders. And a great many Frenchmen on
their arrival in the Indies decided that it would be profitable
to become Hugueneaux.

"These 'corsarios Luteranos' as the Spaniards sometimes

TEE BUCCANEERS 319

called them," Haring writes, "scouring the coast of the
Main from Venezuela to Cartagena, hovering about the
broad channel between Cuba and Yucatan, or prowling in
the Florida Straits, became the nightmare of Spanish sea-
men. Like a pack of terriers they hung upon the skirts of
the great unwieldly fleets, ready to snap up any unfortunate
vessel which a tempest or other accident had separated from
its fellows. When Thomas Gage was sailing in the galleons
from Porto Bello to Cartagena, in 1637, four buccaneers
hovering near them carried away two merchant-ships under
cover of darkness. As the same fleet was departing from
Havana, just outside the harbor two strange vessels appeared
in their midst, and getting to the windward of them singled
out a Spanish ship which had strayed a short distance from
the rest, suddenly gave her a broadside and made her yield.
The vessel was laden with sugar and other goods to the value
of 80,000 crowns. The Spanish vice-admiral and two other
galleons gave chase, but without success, for the wind was
against them. The whole action lasted only half an hour.

"The Spanish ships of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies were notoriously clumsy and unseaworthy. With
short keel and towering poop and forecastle, they were an
easy prey for the long, low, close-sailing sloops and barques
of the buccaneers. But it was not their only weakness.
Although the king expressly prohibited the loading of mer-
chandise on the galleons except on the king's account, this
rule was often broken for the private profit of the captain,
the sailors, and even of the general. The men-of-war, in-
deed, were sometimes so embarrassed with goods and passen-
gers that it was scarcely possible to defend them when at-
tacked. The galleon which bore the general's flag had often
as many as seven hundred souls, crew, marines and passen-
gers, on board, and the same number were crowded upon
those carrying the vice-admiral and the pilot. Ship-masters

320 PANAMA

frequently hired guns, anchors, cables, and stores to make up
the required equipment, and men to fill up the muster-rolls,
against the time when the "visitadors" came on board to
make their official inspection, getting rid of the stores and
men inmediately afterward. Merchant ships were armed
with such feeble crews, owing to the excessive crowding, that
it was all they could do to withstand the least spell of bad
weather, let alone out-manoeuvre a swift-sailing buccaneer."

Henry Morgan, the most famous of the buccaneers, was
typical. When a young boy he was kidnapped in the
streets of Bristol— it is claimed that he came of a good
English family — and was sold as an indentured servant to
some colonist in Barbados. When his time had expired he
made his way to Jamaica and soon fell in with the bucca-
neers who infested that island. Before very long he became
the captain of a ship. At first he seems to have had but
moderate fortune. He took part in several raids but did
not rise to prominence until he joined forces with Mans-
field— the first of the buccaneers who succeeded in rallying
enough pirates under one command to make himself for-
midable to fortified coast towns. Morgan became his prin-
cipal lieutenant, and when this chief passed over became the
acknowledged leader of the buccaneers.

In June, 1668, when he was thirty-three years old, Mor-
gan collected a fleet of nine or ten small ships and perhaps
four hundred men. With them he attacked Puerto Bello
and wrote his name alongside that of Sir Francis Drake in
the record of Englishmen whom the Spaniards feared and
hated.

In his company was a young Dutch apothecary, named
Exquemelin, who afterwards wrote one of the most popular
books of the century. His history of the Sea-Rovers, first
printed in his own language, was soon translated into half a
dozen others and edition after edition was printed. Almost

THE BUCCANEERS 321

every book on the buccaneers which has appeared since is
based on Exquemelin.

"Captain Morgan," he says, "who knew very well all the
avenues of this city, as also all the neighboring coasts, ar-
rived in the dusk of the evening at the place called Puerto
de Naos [probably the present Colon Harbor], distant ten
leagues towards the west of Porto Bello. Being come unto
this place, they mounted the river in their ships, as far as
another harbor called Puerto Pontin, where they came to
anchor. Here they put themselves immediately into boats
and canoes, leaving in the ships only a few men to keep
them and conduct them the next day into the port. About
midnight they came to a certain place called Estera longa
Lemos, where they all went on shore, and marched by land
to the first posts of the city. They had in their company a
certain Englishman, who had been formerly a prisoner in
those parts, and who now served them for a guide. Unto
him, and three or four more, they gave commission to take
the sentry, if possible, or to kill him upon the place. But
they laid hands on him and apprehended him with such
cunning as he had no time to give warning with his musket,
or make any other noise. Thus they brought him, with his
hands bound, unto Captain Morgan, who asked him: 'How
things went in the city, and what forces they had'; with
many other circumstances, which he was desirous to know.
After every question they made him a thousand menaces
to kill him, in case he declared not the truth. Thus they
began to advance towards the city, carrying always the said
sentry bound before them. Having marched about one
quarter of a league, they came to the castle that is nigh unto
the city, which presently they closely surrounded, so that
no person could either get in or out of the said fortress.

"Being thus posted under the walls of the castle, Cap-
tain Morgan commanded the sentry, whom they had taken

322 PANAMA

prisoner, to speak to those that were within, charging them
to surrender, and deliver themselves up to his discretion;
otherwise they should be all cut to pieces, without giving
quarter to any one. But they would harken to none of
these threats, beginning instantly to fire; which gave notice
unto the city, and this was suddenly alarmed. Yet, not-
withstanding, although the governor and soldiers of the said
castle made as great resistance as could be performed, they
were constrained to surrender unto the pirates. These no
sooner had taken the castle, than they resolved to be as
good as their word, in putting the Spaniards to the sword,
thereby to strike a terror into the rest of the city. Here-
upon, having shut up all the soldiers and officers as pris-
oners, into one room, they instantly set fire to the powder
(whereof they found great quantity), and blew up the whole
castle into the air, with all the Spaniards that were within.
This being done, they pursued the course of their victory,
falling upon the city, which as yet was not in order to
receive them. Many of the inhabitants cast their precious
jewels and money into wells and cisterns or hid them in
other places underground, to excuse as much as possible,
their being totally robbed. One party of the pirates, being
assigned to this purpose, ran immediately to the cloisters
and took as many religious men and women as they could
find. The governor of the city not being able to rally the
citizens, through the huge confusion of the town, retired
into one of the castles remaining, and from thence began to
fire incessantly at the pirates. But these were not in the
least negligent either to assault him or defend themselves
with all the courage imaginable. Thus it was observed that,
amidst the horror of the assault, they made very few shot in
vain. For aiming with great dexterity at the mouths of
the guns, the Spaniards were certain to lose one or two men
every time they charged each gun anew.

THE BUCCANEERS 323

"The assault of the castle where the governor was con-
tinued very furious on both sides, from break of day until
noon. Yea, about this time of the day the case was very
dubious which party should conquer or be conquered. . . .
Captain Morgan, seeing this generous defense made by the
Spaniards, began to despair of the whole success of the en-
terprise. Hereupon many faint and calm meditations came
into his mind; neither could he determine which way to
turn himself in that straitness of affairs. Being involved in
these thoughts, he was suddenly animated to continue the
assault, by seeing the English colours put forth at one of
the lesser castles, then entered by his men, of whom he
presently after spied a troop that came to meet him pro-
claiming victory with loud shouts of joy. This instantly
put him upon new resolutions of making new efforts to take
the rest of the castles that stood out against him; especially
seeing the chief citizens were fled unto them, and had con-
veyed thither great part of their riches, with all the plate
belonging to the churches, and other things dedicated to
divine service.

"To this effect, therefore, he ordered ten or twelve lad-
ders to be made, in all possible haste, so broad that three or
four men at once might ascend by them. These being fin-
ished, he commanded all the religious men and women
whom he had taken prisoners to fix them against the walls
of the castle. Thus much he had before hand threatened
the governor to perform, in case he delivered not the castle.
But his answer was: 'He would never surrender himself
alive.' Captain Morgan was much persuaded that the
governor would not employ his utmost forces, seeing relig-
ious women and ecclesiastical persons exposed in the front
of the soldiers to the greatest dangers. Thus the ladders,
as I have said, were put into the hands of religious persons
of both sexes; and these were forced, at the head of the

324 PANAMA

companies, to raise and apply them to the walls. But
Captain Morgan was deceived in his judgment of this
design. For the governor, who acted like a brave and
courageous soldier, refused not, in performance of his duty,
to use his utmost endeavours to destroy whosoever came
near the walls. The religious men and women ceased not
to cry unto him and beg of him by all the Saints of Heaven
he would deliver the castle, and hereby spare both his and
their own lives. But nothing could prevail with the ob-
stinacy and fierceness that had possessed the governor's
mind. Thus many of the religious men and nuns were
killed before they could fix the ladders. Which at last
being done, though with great loss of the said religious
people, the pirates mounted them in great numbers, and
with no less valour; having fireballs in their hands and
earthen pots full of powder. All which things, being now
at the top of the walls, they kindled and cast in among the
Spaniards.

"This effort of the pirates was very great, insomuch as
the Spaniards could no longer resist nor defend the castle,
which was now entered. Hereupon they all threw down
their arms, and craved quarter for their lives. Only the
governor of the city would admit or crave no mercy; but
rather killed many of the pirates with his own hands, and
not a few of his own soldiers because they did not stand to
their arms. And although the pirates asked him if he
would have quarter, yet he constantly answered: "By no
means; I had rather die as a valiant soldier, than be hanged
as a coward.' They endeavoured as much as they could
to take him prisoner. But he defended himself so obsti-
nately that they were forced to kill him; notwithstanding
all the cries and tears of his own wife and daughter, who
begged him upon their knees he would demand quarter and
save his life. When the pirates had possessed themselves

THE BUCCANEEES 325

of the castle, which was about night, they enclosed therein
all the prisoners they had taken, placing the women and men
by themselves, with some guards upon them. All the
wounded were put into a certain apartment by itself, to the
intent their own complaints might be the cure of their dis-
ease; for no other was afforded them.

"This being done, they fell to eating and drinking after
their usual manner; that is to say, committing in both these
things all manner of debauchery and excess. . . . After
such manner they delivered themselves up unto all sort of
debauchery, that if there had been found only fifty courag-
ous men, they might easily have retaken the city, and killed
all the pirates. The next day, having plundered all they
could find, they began to examine some of the prisoners
(who had been persuaded by their companions to say they
were the richest of the town), charging them severely to
discover where they had hidden their riches and goods. But
not being able to extort anything out of them, as they were
not the right persons that possessed any wealth, they at last
resolved to torture them. This they performed with such
cruelty that many of them died upon the rack, or presently
after. Soon after, the President of Panama had news
brought him of the pillage and ruin of Porto Bello. This
intelligence caused him to employ all his care and industry
to raise forces, with design to pursue and cast out the
pirates from thence. But these cared little for what
extraordinary means the president used, as having their
ships nigh at hand, and being determined to set fire unto the
city and retreat. They had now been at Porto Bello fifteen
days, in which space of time they had lost many of their
men, both by the unhealthiness of the country and the ex-
travagant debaucheries they had committed."

In regard to the diseases which carried off some of the
pirates, Mr. Haring gives a note in which he quotes an old

326 PANAMA

book called "The Present State of Jamaica, 1683," which
says that Morgan brought the plague back from Puerto
Bello, "that killed my Lady Modyford and others."

"Hereupon they prepared for a departure," Exquemelin
continues, "carrying on board their ships all the pillage they
had gotten. But, before all, they provided the fleet with
sufficient victuals for the voyage. While these things were
getting ready, Captain Morgan sent an injunction unto the
prisoners, that they should pay him a ransom for the city,
or else he would by fire consume it to ashes, and blow up all
the castles into the air. Withal, he commanded them to
send speedily two persons to seek and procure the sum he
demanded, which amounted to one hundred thousand pieces
of eight. Unto this effect, two men were sent to the Presi-
dent of Panama, who gave him an account of all these
tragedies. . . ."

The President of Panama was unable to relieve the
stricken town, and so "the miserable citizens, gathered the
contribution wherein they were fined, and brought the
entire sum of one hundred thousand pieces of eight unto
the pirates, for a ransom of the cruel captivity they were
fallen into. But the President of Panama, by these trans-
actions, was brought into an extreme admiration, consider-
ing that four hundred men had been able to take such a
great city, with so many strong castles; especially seeing
they had no pieces of cannon, nor other great guns, where-
with to raise batteries against them. And what was more,
knowing that the citizens of Porto Bello had always great
repute of being good soldiers themselves, and who had never
wanted courage in their own defence. This astonishment
was so great, that it occasioned him, for to be satisfied
thereon, to send a messenger unto Captain Morgan, desiring
him to send him some small pattern of those arms where-
with he had taken with such violence so great a city.

THE BUCCANEERS 327

Captain Morgan received this messenger very kindly, and
treated him with great civility. Which being done, he gave
him a pistol and a few small bullets of lead, to carry back
unto the President, his master, telling him withal: 'He de-
sired him to accept that slender pattern of arms wherewith
he had taken Porto Bello and keep them for a twelvemonth ;
after which time he promised to come to Panama and fetch
them away.' The governor of Panama returned the present
very soon unto Captain Morgan, giving him thanks for the
favour of lending him such weapons as he needed not, and
withal sent him a ring of gold, with this message: 'That he
desired him not give himself the labour of coming to Pan-
ama, as he had done to Porto Bello; for he did certify unto
him that he should not speed so well here as he had done
there.'

"After these transactions, Captain Morgan (having pro-
vided his fleet with all necessaries, and taken with him the
best guns of the castles, nailing the rest which he could not
carry away) set sail from Porto Bello with all his ships.
With these he arrived in a few days unto the Island of
Cuba, where he sought out a place wherein with all quiet and
repose he might make the dividend of the spoil they had
gotten. They found in ready money two hundred and fifty
thousand pieces of eight, besides all other merchandise, as
cloth, linen, silks and other goods. With this rich purchase
they sailed again from thence unto their common place of
rendezvous, Jamaica. Being arrived, they passed here some
time in all sorts of vices and debauchery, according to
their common manner of doing, spending with huge prodi-
gality what others had gained with no small labour and
toil."

The fame of this exploit made it easy for Morgan to
muster a larger force for the carrying out of his threat
against Panama. In October, 1670, he sailed from Kings-

328 PANAMA

ton to a rendezvous where he gathered between twenty-five
and thirty English vessels and five or ten French.

"The President of Panama, meanwhile, on 15th Decem-
ber, had received a messenger from the governor of Carta-
gena with news of the coming of the English," writes Haring.
"The president immediately dispatched reinforcements to
the Castle of Chagre, which arrived fifteen days before the
buccaneers and raised its strength to over 350 men. Two
hundred men were sent to Porto Bello, and 500 more were
stationed at Venta Cruz and in ambuscades along the
Chagre River to oppose the advance of the English. The
president himself rose from a bed of sickness to head a re-
serve of 800, but most of his men were raw recruits without
a professional soldier amongst them. This militia in a few
days became so panic-stricken that one-third deserted in a
night, and the president was compelled to retire to Panama.
There the Spaniards managed to load some of the treasure
upon two or three ships lying in the roadstead; and the nuns
and most of the citizens of importance also embarked with
their wives, children and personal property."

After severe fighting and considerable loss of life, the
buccaneers captured Fort San Lorenzo at the mouth of the
Rio Chagres and started up the river in canoes. From the
very first they encountered great hardships from the diffi-
cult and unfamiliar trail. The Spaniards had been careful
not to leave anything edible in their way and after the first
day they ran out of provisions. On the fourth day they came
to a little village where they expected that "they should find
some provisions wherewith to satiate their hunger, which
was very great. Being come unto the place, they found
nobody in it, the Spaniards who were there not long before
being every one fled, and leaving nothing behind unless it
were a small number of leather bags, all empty, and a few
crumbs of bread scattered upon the ground where they had

THE BUCCANEERS 329

eaten. Being angry at this misfortune, they pulled down a
few little huts which the Spaniards had made, and after-
wards fell to eating the leather bags, as being desirous to
afford something to the ferment of their stomachs, which
now was grown so sharp that it did gnaw their very bowels,
having nothing else to prey upon. Thus they made a huge
banquet upon those bags of leather, which doubtless had
been more grateful unto them, if divers quarrels had not
risen concerning who should have the greatest share. By
the circumference of the place they conjectured five hundred
Spaniards, more or less, had been there. And these, finding
no victuals, they were now infinitely desirous to meet, in-
tending to devour some of them rather than perish. Whom
they would certainly in that occasion have roasted or boiled,
to satisfy their famine, had they been able to take them.

"After they had feasted themselves with those pieces of
leather, they quitted the place, and marched farther on, till
they came about night to another post called Torna Munni.
Here they found another ambuscade, but as barren and
desert as the former. They searched the neighbouring woods
but could not find the least thing to eat. The Spaniards
having been so provident as not to leave behind them any-
where the least crumb of sustenance, whereby the pirates
were now brought to the extremity aforementioned. Here
again he was happy, that had reserved since noon any small
piece of leather whereof to make his supper, drinking after
it a good draught of water for his greatest comfort. Some
persons who never were out of their mother's kitchens may
ask how these pirates could eat, swallow and digest those
pieces of leather, so hard and dry. Unto whom I only
answer: That could they once experiment what hunger, or
rather famine, is, they would certainly find the manner, by
their own necessity, as the pirates did. For these first took
the leather and sliced it in pieces. Then did they beat it

330 PANAMA

between two stones and rub it, often dipping it in the water
of the river, to render it by these means supple and tender.
Lastly they scraped off the hair, and roasted or broiled it
upon the fire. And being thus cooked they cut it into small
morsels, and eat it, helping it down with frequent gulps of
water, which by good fortune they had nigh at hand."

On the next day "they found two sacks of meal, wheat
and like things, with two great jars of wine, and certain
fruits called plantanos. Captain Morgan, knowing that
some of his men were now, through hunger, reduced almost
to the extremity of their lives, and fearing lest the major
part should be brought into the same condition, caused all
that was found to be distributed amongst them who were in
greatest necessity. Having refreshed themselves with these
victuals, they began to march anew with greater courage
than ever. Such as could not well go for weakness were
put into the canoes, and those commanded to land that
were in them before. Thus they prosecuted their journey
till late at night, at which time they came unto a plantation
where they took up their rest. But without eating anything
at all; for the Spaniards, as before, had swept away all man-
ner of provisions, leaving not behind them the least signs of
victuals.

"On the sixth day they continued their march, part of
them by land through the woods, and part by water in the
canoes. Howbeit they were constrained to rest themselves
very frequently by the way, both for the ruggedness thereof
and the extreme weakness they were under. . . . This
day, at noon, they arrived at a plantation, where they found
a barn full of maize. Immediately they beat down the
doors, and fell to eating of it dry, as much as they could
devour. Afterwards they distributed great quantity, giving
to every man a good allowance thereof. Being thus pro-
vided they prosecuted their journey."

TEE BUCCANEERS 331

On the eighth day, according to Exquemelin, they met
with some resistance. Although the Spaniards would not
stop to give battle, the Indians were bolder, and there were
two or three sharp skirmishes.

On the ninth day, having had nothing to eat but scraps
of leather, some dry maize and the two sacks of meal and a
few plantains, they came to a high mountain, which, "when
they ascended, they discovered from the top thereof the
South Sea. This happy sight, as if it were the end of their
labours, caused infinite joy among the pirates. From hence
they could descry one ship and six boats, which were set
forth from Panama, and sailed towards the islands of Tavoga
and Tavogilla. Having descended this mountain, they came
unto a vale, in which they found great quantity of cattle,
whereof they killed good store. Here while some were
employed in killing and flaying of cows, horses, bulls and
chiefly asses, of which there was the greatest number, others
busied themselves in kindling of fires and getting wood
wherewith to roast them. Thus cutting the flesh of these
animals into convenient pieces, or gobbets, they threw them
into the fire and, half carbonadoed or roasted, they devoured
them with incredible haste and appetite. For such was their
hunger that they more resembled cannibals than Europeans
at this banquet, the blood many times running down from
their beards to the middle of their bodies.

"Having satisfied their hunger with these delicious meats,
Captain Morgan ordered them to continue the march."

It is needless to describe the battle before the city. Ex-
quemelin goes into great detail, but very little of his account
is convincing. Morgan, in his report to Gov. Modyford of
Jamaica, says that the Spaniards had more than two thou-
sand infantry and six hundred cavalry. The President of
Panama, in his report to the Spanish Court, says that he
had but twelve hundred in all, mostly negroes, mulattoes

332 PANAMA

and Indians. His men were for the most part armed with
fowling-pieces, and his artillery he claims was made up of
three wooden guns bound with hide. The buccaneers, while
greatly outnumbered, were very much better soldiers than
the crude militia which protected the town. Morgan claims
that he only lost five men killed and ten wounded, and that
the Spanish loss was about four hundred. Exquemelin says
there were six hundred Spaniards "dead upon the place
besides wounded and prisoners." The buccaneers met more
formidable resistance when they entered the city.

"They found much difficulty in their approach unto the
city. For within the town the Spaniards had placed many
great guns, at several quarters thereof, some of which were
charged with small pieces of iron, and others with musket
bullets. With all these they saluted the pirates, at their
drawing nigh unto the place, and gave them full and fre-
quent broadsides, firing at them incessantly. Whence it
came to pass that unavoidably they lost, at every step they
advanced, great numbers of men. But neither these mani-
fest dangers of their lives, nor the sight of so many of their
own as dropped down continually at their sides, could deter
them from advancing farther, and gaining ground every mo-
ment upon the enemy. Thus, although the Spaniards never
ceased to fire and act the best they could for their defence,
yet notwithstanding they were forced to deliver the city after
the space of three hours combat. And the pirates, having now
possessed themselves thereof, both killed and destroyed as
many as attempted to make the least opposition against them.
The inhabitants had caused the best of their goods to be
transported to more remote and occult places. Howbeit they
found within the city as yet several warehouses, very well
stocked with all sorts of merchandise, as well as silks and
cloths as linen, and other things of considerable value. As
soon as the first fury of their entrance into the city was over,

THE BUCCANEERS 333

Captain Morgan assembled all his men at a certain place
which he assigned, and there commanded them under very
great penalties that none of them should dare to drink or
taste any wine. The reason he gave for this injunction was,
because he had received private intelligence that it had been
all poisoned by the Spaniards. Howbeit it was the opinion
of many he gave these prudent orders to prevent the de-
bauchery of his people, which he foresaw would be very
great at the beginning, after so much hunger sustained by
the way. Fearing withal, lest the Spaniards, seeing them in
wine, should rally their forces and fall upon the city, and use
them as inhumanly as they had used the inhabitants before."
"Exquemelin accuses Morgan of setting fire to the city
and endeavouring to make the world believe that it was done
by the Spaniards," Haring writes. "Wm. Frogge, however,
who was also present, says distinctly that the Spaniards
fired the town, and Sir William Godolphin, in a letter from
Madrid to Secretary Arlington on 2nd June, 1671, giving
news of the exploit which must have come from a Spanish
source, says that the President of Panama left orders that
the city if taken should be burnt. Moreover, the President
of Panama himself, in a letter to Spain, describing the
event, which was intercepted by the English, admits that
not the buccaneers but the slaves and the owners of the
houses set fire to the city. The buccaneers tried in vain
to extinguish the flames, and the whole town, which was
built mostly of wood, was consumed by twelve o'clock mid-
night. The only edifices which escaped were the govern-
ment buildings, a few churches, and about 300 houses in the
suburbs. The freebooters remained at Panama twenty-
eight days seeking plunder and indulging in every variety
of excess. Excursions were made daily into the country for
twenty leagues round about to search for booty, and 3,000
prisoners were brought in."

334 PANAMA

It was a barren raid for the pirates. The ships which
they had seen in the harbor as they descended the moun-
tains had carried off most of the wealth of the city. Al-
though they cruised up and down the coast and captured a
few small boats and some booty the treasure ships escaped.

"Captain Morgan used to send forth daily parties of two
hundred men, to make inroads into all the fields and coun-
try thereabouts, and when one party came back, another
consisting of two hundred more was ready to go forth. By
this means they gathered in a short time huge quantities of
riches, and no less number of prisoners. These being brought
into the city, were presently put unto the most exquisite
tortures imaginable, to make them confess both other peo-
ple's goods and their own. . . . After this execrable
manner did many of these miserable prisoners finish their
days, the common sport and recreation of these pirates
being these and other tragedies not inferior to these.

"They spared in their cruelties no sex nor condition what-
soever. For as to religious persons and priests, they granted
them less quarter than unto others, unless they could pro-
duce a considerable sum of money, capable of being a suffi-
cient ransom. Women themselves were no better used.
. . . Captain Morgan, their leader and commander, gave
them no good example in this point. . . .

"On the 24th of February of the year 1671, Captain
Morgan departed from the City of Panama, or rather from
the place where the said City of Panama did stand. Of
the spoils whereof he carried with him one hundred and
seventy-five beasts of carriage, laden with silver, gold and
other precious things, besides 600 prisoners, more or less,
between men, women, children and slaves."

All through his narrative, Exquemelin is venomous in his
references to Morgan. Of course he wrote his book after
his return to Europe where piracy, although a good subject

THE BUCCANEEES 335

for a "best-seller," was not considered a reputable profes-
sion, so it was necessary for him every few pages to express
his own abhorrance for such deeds. He goes to considerable
length to tell how he was captured and forced to join the
expedition because the pirate needed an apothecary. But I
think the real reason for his rancor against Sir Henry crops
out in a passage towards the end of his book.

After describing the trip back across the Isthmus to Fort
San Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagres, Exquemelin says
that "the dividend was made of all the spoil they had pur-
chased in that voyage. Thus every company and every
particular person therein included received their portion of
what was gotten; or rather what part thereof Captain
Morgan was pleased to give them. For so it was, that the
rest of his companions, even of his own nation, complained
of his proceedings in this particular, and feared not to tell
him openly to his face, that he had reserved the best jewels
to himself. For they judged it impossible that no greater
share should belong unto them than two hundred pieces of
eight per capita, of so many valuable purchases and rob-
beries as they had obtained. Which small sum they thought
too little reward for so much labour and such huge and mani-
fest dangers as they had so often exposed their lives unto.
But Captain Morgan was deaf to all these and many other
complaints of this kind, having designed in his mind to cheat
them of as much as he could."

After having risked not only his life but also his reputa-
tion on this piratical adventure, one can hardly blame
Exquemelin for harboring a grudge against the man who
cheated him out of the just proceeds of his robbery.

The scandal caused by the sack of Panama City — Eng-
land was then at peace with Spain — was so great that the
British Government was forced to suppress buccaneering in
Jamaica. It was a hard thing to do, for just as the corrupt

336 PANAMA

political rings of our cities say that a "wide-open town"
makes for prosperity, so in Jamaica almost every colonist
was directly or indirectly interested in the success of the
buccaneers. At last the English Government decided to
set a thief to catch the thieves, and knighted Henry Morgan
and gave him the work of wiping out his old trade. On the
whole he did a pretty fair job of it.

Although the old habits persisted for many decades it
was no longer anything but open piracy. The Spaniards
were no longer the only prey.

CHAPTER XX

THE ' PRESBYTERIAN INVASION

SOME time in the last quarter of the seventeenth century
a young Scotch minister came to Jamaica. His name was
William Paterson. We have no authentic information of
why he visited the colony nor of what he did there. His
enemies — of whom he later acquired a great multitude —
pretend that he left the Presbyterian Church to go on a
pirate cruise. There are no proofs of this accusation, but
he is known to have made the acquaintance of several
eminent buccaneers, and he certainly had not been destined
by the Fates for the ministry.

In 1686 Paterson — about thirty years of age — returned to
Europe with a " Scheme of Foreign Trade." He has left
no written records of this period of his life, no detailed
account of his " scheme." All we know about his activity
is from chance allusions to him in the writings of the mer-
chants of his day. A number of them tell casually of having
been visited by a young visionary who tried to interest them
in a Utopian scheme of colonizing the Isthmus of Panama
and turning it into a great free-trade emporium of the
Oriental trade. From such scattered allusion we know that
he travelled over most of Northern Europe, Amsterdam,
Hamburg, the Hanseatic towns of the Baltic. He seems to
have dreamed of creating a neutral or international colony
on the Isthmus, with immense ports on either ocean, con-
nected by a canal, and concentrating there the trade of the
Indies. He was also an extreme free trader. And it was

337

338 PANAMA

by freeing these ports of all the monopolistic restrictions, on
which the trading companies of his day were built, that he
expected to draw the commerce of the world into his scheme.

No one would listen to him. So he settled in London and,
tucking away his dream in a back compartment of his brain,
he set about making himself a fortune. He developed an
amazing genius, and within five years, when hardly thirty-
five years old, he had become a dominant figure in the London
financial world. His prestige was so great that when, in 1691,
he proposed to organize a corporation to fund the debts of
the British Crown, he received a respectful hearing. For
three years he devoted himself to this project and in 1694
the English Parliament accepted his proposals and incorpo-
rated the Bank of England. Paterson was one of the origi-
nal board of directors.

The founding of the Bank of England has led us some
distance from Panama, but we must make one more detour
before we can find our way to the Scots Colonie at Darien.

The Glorious Restoration, after the collapse of the Com-
monwealth, had made the same man king of the two hostile
countries of England and Scotland. Ever since the Romans
had built a wall across the Island to keep out the northern
barbarians, Saxons and Celts had been cutting each other's
throats at every opportunity. Although King William was
wearing both crowns, the union was personal, not organic.
Just as Franz Josef is Emperor of Austria and King of
Hungary, and as Nicholas is Tsar of Russia and Grand Duke
of Finland, so William was king of two countries which had
nothing in common but their sovereign.

England was one of the most advanced countries indus-
trially; Scotland was only half emerged from the chrysalis
of feudalism. From their barren, wind-swept hills the pro-
gressive Scots were looking with envy and desire on the rich
commerce of England and wishing to share in it — it was this

THE PEESBTTEEIAN INVASION 339

desire which later motived the organic union of the two
countries — but it was a bad time for outsiders to try to
seize a share of profits. It was an age of monopolies.

The Oriental trade of England was the private property
of the East India Company. This small group of city mer-
chants owned the earth and the fulness thereof — at least
all the earth which offered spectacular profits to traders.
Already firmly established, this Company had so thoroughly
" built its fences," so entirely "fixed" Parliament that for
more than a century they were able to rule England almost
as autocratically as they governed their rapidly growing
empire in India.

Some day " A History of Graft" will be written and we will
most of us be surprised to find how very much less we have
of it to-day than in the past. Two great events will be
recorded in such a history. The first will be the time in
each nation's history when the Privy Purse was definitely
separated from the National Treasury. When the National
consciousness had grown to the point of differentiating be-
tween the people's money and the sovereign's salary, the
first milestone in the elimination of graft had been passed.
The second epoch-marking event was when the eighteenth
century muckrakers of England forced the impeachment of
Warren Hastings and broke the domination of the East India
Company over the British Parliament.

But this second milestone had not been reached at this
time. England ruled the waves and the East India Company
ruled England. But a legal monopoly always engenders
smuggling. This close corporation had secured laws which
forbade any outsiders to trade in the East. So the outsiders
did it illegally. The London financial world was divided
between the Company and the Interlopers. The latter got
pretty poor pickings, but were always wide awake, always
looking for some chance to run the legal blockade.

340 PANAMA

The progressive element in Scotland saw that dividends
were rapidly taking the place of divisions of booty and that if
their country was to have any reputation in the great world
besides that of being a good recruiting ground for mercenar-
ies, they must have some commerce. In 1693, while Paterson
was busy in London founding the Bank of England, the Scots
Parliament passed an "Act for Encouraging Foreign Trade."
In effect it said that if any one with capital wanted to get a
charter for a trading company, Scotland would give him a
more liberal franchise than any other country.

When news of this act drifted into London, some of the
Interlopers pricked up their ears and began to consider the
possibility of legalizing their Oriental trade under the Scotch

In May, 1695, James Chiesly, a notorious Interloper,
brought a proposition to Paterson. Chiesly had a vision of
breaking into the Oriental trade. Paterson saw a chance of
bringing to life his old dream of a world centre on the Isth-
mus. But his early experience had taught him that financiers
will not subscribe to a dream. So he kept his own counsels
about Panama, but went into the scheme on the basis which
Chiesly suggested. Together they drew up a bill and, at
an opportune moment, when the King was on the Continent
fighting Louis XIV, slipped it into the Scots Parliament.
After two weeks of discussion in committee, the bill — "An
act erecting the Company of Scotland, trading in Africa and
the Indies" — was introduced and rushed through on June
25, 1695. The King's Commissioner touched it with the
royal scepter and it became a law.

The Scots Parliament had certainly kept its promise of
liberality. The act created a monopoly of Scotch foreign
trade for thirty-one years. For twenty-one years the Com-
pany was exempt from all taxation, either on its real property
or its imports. In return for this fat franchise the Company

OLD FRENCH EQUIPMENT.

MODERN AMERICAN EQUIPMENT.

THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 341

was to pay the Scotch Crown an annual tribute of — one
hogshead of tobacco ! Even the powerful English Company
had not been able to get as great privileges as these from
their parliament.

The original plan was to capitalize the Company at
£600,000. Paterson was to raise half the amount in London.
In outlining his plan of campaign to the directors of the new
company he wrote: "And for Reasons, we ought to give
none, but that it is a Fund for the African and Indian
Company. For if we are not able to raise the Fund by our
Reputation, we shall hardly do it by our Reason."

His reputation as founder of the Bank of England was, in
fact, good for twice the sum. All the " Interlopers " of Lon-
don were keen to get in on any competition to the English
Company. All this time, whatever his private plans, Paterson
never mentioned Panama. The Scots company was put
before the public as an organization for Oriental trade. The
London fund was over-subscribed in a few days. £175,000
were paid in cash.

But the moment Paterson exploded this bomb, the English
East India Company woke up. First of all they forced King
William to denounce the new venture and to say that "he
had been ill-served in Scotland." They pushed a bill through
the English Parliament which outlawed the Scotch Company
in England. Paterson had to cancel the subscription and
refund the £175,000. Some of the English citizens who had
accepted positions in the directorate were indicted for high
treason !

The same thing happened abroad. In Hamburg and Am-
sterdam, Paterson was able to raise large subscriptions
from those merchants who were outside the great trade
combine. But the "interests" were able to bring effective
pressure to bear on the right persons. And the subscrip-
tions had to be cancelled.

342 PANAMA

The Company had to raise its capital at home. Scotland
was not a rich country — but it was patriotic. The natives
had taken little interest in the Company until it had been
attacked by perfidious Albion. Now it became a national
issue. The Scots subscribed £400,000, an immense sum for
that undeveloped country. The first call of twenty-five per
cent, brought in £100,000 with promptness. The subscribers
ranged from duchesses to charwomen.

This was a much smaller sum than they had first planned
to start with. But with good management they might have
made a success at the East India trade. One successful trip
around the Cape of Good Hope and back often paid the
whole cost of the ship and a hundred odd per cent, profit.
However, Paterson had come to Scotland and in secret
conclave he had opened to the directors his Panama dream.
"This door of the seas," he told them, "this key of the
universe, with anything of a sort of good management, will
of course enable its proprietors to give laws to both oceans
and to become arbitrators of the commercial world, without
being liable to the fatigues, expenses and dangers or con-
tracting the guilt and blood of Alexander and Caesar."

But they did not have "anything of a sort of good manage-
ment." Paterson's scheme was impractical, but he was the
most practical man connected with the Company. His
London banker, Smyth, defaulted for £8,500 of the Com-
pany's funds and although Paterson was exonerated, the
affair discredited him. So the directors tried to carry out
his scheme without his assistance.

They spent a year in gathering equipment. Ships were
built in Amsterdam — it is said that Tsar Peter the Great
served part of his shipbuilding apprenticeship on one of
them. They commissioned five " Chirugean- Apothecaries "
to collect sufficient medicaments to last fifteen hundred men
two years. One agent was to procure as many pistols from

THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 343

the gunsmiths of Scotland at seventeen shillings a pair "as
they'll undertake." They ordered two hundred oxen, "the
best they can find to be slaughtered at Leith." They bought
twenty tuns of brandy, thirty barrels of tobacco pipes and
"£50 worth of Bibles and Catechisms." 'And they laid in a
cargo of merchandise for trade with the Indians. Paterson's
advice in selecting this equipment would have been inval-
uable. They neglected it.

In March, 1698, the Company issued a prospectus calling
for volunteers to form a colony.

"Every one who goes on the first Equipage shall Receive
and Possess Fifty Acres of Plantation Land and 50 Foot
Square of Ground at least in the Chief City or Town and an
ordinary House built thereupon by the Company at the
End of Three Years."

Their prospectus gave no information as to where the
colony was to be. But it had been a year of severe famine
in Scotland. The Peace of Ryswick had deprived many of
the natives of their regular occupation — campaigning in
Flanders. The enterprise had become a national fad. It
was "Hurrah for the Scots Company and down with the
English." So many volunteered that the directors were able
to withdraw the original favorable offer and recruit twelve
hundred men on terms which amounted to indentured serv-
itude. There were also three hundred gentleman volunteers,
most of whom were ex-officers from the Dutch Wars.

When everything was ready the split in the board of
directors between the Church and Kirk parties, which had
long been brewing, came to a head. In choosing an executive
council for the expedition, the Kirk faction won. Whether
or not the Church candidates were better men we cannot tell.
But the seven men chosen because of their staunch allegi-
ance to the Presbyterian form of church government were
entirely unfit. In all the output of pamphlets for and against

344 PANAMA

the Company — and it was an age of pamphleteering — I have
not found a single author who had any good words for this
council. Paterson, the only man who knew anything about
trade or the Indies, was not one of them. He went along as
a gentleman volunteer with "his Wife, her Maid and his
Clerk, Thomas Fenton."

On July 26, 1698, the fleet, three ships and two tenders,
sailed from Leith. The council had received "sealed orders"
to be opened at Madeira. Very few of all the expedition
knew their destination. A few days out they took an invoice
of their cargo and provision and so discovered a new fraud.
Someone — it seems to have been with the connivance of
some of the directors — had falsified the bills of lading. In-
stead of provisions for six months, they had barely enough
for two.

August 29th they reached Madeira. The orders instructed
them to proceed to the "Golden Island in the Bay of Acla"
and found a colony to be called New Caledonia. One of the
councillors resigned apparently in disgust when he discov-
ered that they were not going to the East Indies, and Pater-
son was elected in his place. But the council had already
acquired the habit of distrust and mutual suspicion. They
spent some time at Madeira replenishing their scanty pro-
visions. The gentleman volunteers parted with most of their
rich garments in exchange for wine and food.

On November 1st they reached their destination. The
Indians welcomed them. The tribes of the San Bias coast
had always been at war with the Spaniards; they had fre-
quently been valuable allies to the English buccaneers. And
they received the Scots with enthusiasm. Mr. Rose's diary
for November 8th says "Wind and Weather as above. There
hath been a great number of Indians aboard the ships,
whom wee use very kindly and who consume a great deal of
Liquor."

THE PEESBYTEEIAN INVASION 345

The new town, to be called New Edinburgh, was at once
started, as was also the Fort of St. Andrew at the mouth of
the bay. But the quarrels among the council, which had
started before they were out of sight of Scotland, now broke
out with redoubled venom over the question of who should
be chief executive of the colony. At last they adopted the
insane expedient of having each councillor in turn serve for
one week.

In a letter which they sent home to the directors in
December, 1698, it is evident that the colony is already in
a bad way. A list is given of the dead. Forty-four had died
on the trip out, including the two ministers, and thirty-two
more had died between landing and Christmas Day. In one
case the cause of death was given as "decay," another "died
suddenly after warm walking," four had been drowned. All
the rest had fallen victims to either "Flux" or "Fever."
In this list are the names of Paterson's wife and clerk and of
a boy who seems to have been his son.

Another cause of trouble was that while most of the coun-
cil were strict members of the Kirk, the rank and file were the
rapscallion remnants from the wars in the low countries.
The moral ideas of the council were even stricter than those
of the Plymouth colony. But if they had put all the Sabbath
breakers in the stocks — as they thought they ought to do — •
there would have been no laborers left to build houses nor
till the fields. In this December letter to the officials at home
the council laments over the godlessness of their flock and
begs the Company to send them some powerful preachers on
the next boat.

But in spite of these troubles they issued on December
28th a resounding proclamation. The following paragraph
with its strange mixture of Paterson's dream of universal
free trade and the religious fanaticism of the Kirk party is
typical of the entire enterprise.

346 PANAMA

"And we do hereby not only grant and concede and
declare a general and equal freedom of government and
trade to those of all nations who shall hereafter be of or con-
cerned with us; but also a full and free liberty of Conscience
in matters of Religion, so as the same be not understood to
allow, connive at, or indulge the blasphemy of God's Holy
Name or any of His Divine Attributes, or the unhallowing
or profaning of the Sabbath Day."

Trouble was also threatening them from their Spanish
neighbors. The San Bias Indians were beginning to get
impatient for the expected war. But the colonists wanted
peace — which was of course impossible. Even if the Spanish
king had approved of their settling in his territory, it would
have been impossible for the Kirk and the Inquisition to have
existed side by side.

On February 5th a small boat, the Dolphin Snow, belonging
to the Scots was driven by a storm onto the rocks near the
Spanish citadel of Cartagena. The crew were imprisoned
as pirates and sent to Spain for trial. The same day the
Indians reported that some soldiers were approaching over-
land from Panama. And on the 6th there was a skirmish.
The Spaniards were only a scouting party and were easily
driven back. When the news of the Dolphin Snow's fate
reached the colony they declared war by granting letters-
of-mark to a Captain Pilkington. He cruised up and down
the coast, but only succeeded in capturing a deserted schooner
which was probably the property of some pirate.

Meanwhile their enemies in England had not been quiet.
The great East India Company had doubtless been relieved
to hear that, instead of going in for the sure profits of the
Orient, they had launched a very doubtful venture in the
New World. But the London merchants were not the kind
to brook any competition and they at last succeeded in forcing
King William to emphasize his repudiation of the Scots Com-

TEE PKESBYTEEIAN INVASION 347

pany by sending out a proclamation to all the colonial
governors forbidding them to give any aid or countenance,
or to enter into any intercourse with the Darien Colony.
On April 5th Governor Beeston published the proclamation
in Kingston, Jamaica. About the same time similar action
was taken by the governors of Barbadoes and New York.
But the vexation which his Scotch subjects had caused the
King was by no means over. On May 3d his morning's mail
contained an elaborate document which began as follows:

"The Under-Subscriber, Ambassador Extraordinary from
his Catholick Majesty, finds himself obliged by express Or-
ders, to represent to your Majesty, that the King, his Master,
having received Information from different Places and last
of all from the Governor of Havana, of the Insult and Attempt
of some Scots Ships, equipp'd with Men and other Things
requisite, who design to settle themselves in his Majesty's
Sovereign Domains in America and particularly the Province
of Darien, His Majesty receiv'd those Advices with much
Discontent and looks upon the same as a Token of small
Friendship and as a Rupture of the Alliance betwixt the two
Crowns. . , ." These Scotch traders had not only set
his own kingdoms by the ears, but were threatening to in-
volve him in a foreign war!

It took some time for the news of these hostile proclama-
tions to reach the colonists. Meanwhile sickness increased
apace, no reinforcements came from home, dissensions grew
in the council. News came from every side that the Spaniards
were threatening an attack. A French trading vessel brought
the report that Armadas were being fitted out at Cartagena
and Puerto Bello. The Indians told of large bodies of troops
advancing from Panama. Sir Henry Morgan had crossed the
Isthmus with a handful of men and had sacked that metrop-
olis of the southern sea. But these nine hundred odd Scotch-
men— emaciated by the fever, split into hostile cliques — were

348 PANAMA

not of the same spirit. When the news of the proclamation
shutting off all hope of provisions or reinforcements from any
place nearer than Scotland fell on them like a thunderbolt,
they all clamored for a speedy retreat. A few brave spirits
tried to hold the colony together. But on June 5th Paterson
was hit by the fever — and then it became a scramble to get
on board. The last boat, carrying the delirious Paterson,
left the harbor on June 20th. She carried two hundred and
fifty deserters. They had a terrible voyage; one hundred
and fifty of them had died before they rounded Sandy Hook
on the 13th of August.

Meanwhile the Company at home, having no news of this
disaster, was sending out glowing accounts of the colony.
One of them, "A Letter, giving a Description of the Isthmus
of Darien (where the Scot's Colonie is settled)" is typical.
It describes an earthly Paradise as fanciful as that Garden
of Perpetual Youth which had enticed Ponce de Leon.
Another, "The History of Caledonia, or The Scot's Colony
in Darien in the West Indies. With an Account of the
Manners of the Inhabitants and Richs of the Country. By
a Gentleman lately Arriv'd" says "The Valleys are watered
with Rivers and Perpetual clear Springs, which are most
pleasant to drink, being as soft as Milk and very Nourish-
ing." Still another prospectus writer says: "We saw Am-
brosio's (a native chief) Grandmother there who is 120 years
old and yet very active. . . . The People live here to be 150
and 160 Years of Age." Not content with prose the enthu-
siasm gave birth to verse. A rhymed advertisement entitled
"A Poem upon the Undertaking of the Royal Company of
Scotland, trading to Africa and The Indies," contains this
lyrical outburst:

"The Company designs a Colony
To which all Nations freely may resort
And find quick Justice in an Open Port."

THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 349

On the basis of this publicity campaign the Company was
able to collect another £100,000 of the subscribed capital.
Just when the first colony was deserting New Edinburgh,
two ships, The Olive Branch and the Hopeful Binning of
Bo'ness and three hundred settlers sailed from Scotland.
They arrived at the deserted fort of St. Andrew on the same
day in August when the wreck of the first expedition was
docking in New York. While they were deciding whether
or not to land, some roysterers of the crew broke into the
hold of the Olive Branch to get some brandy, and in their
drunkenness set her on fire. She burned down to the water
with the greater part of their provisions. The disheart-
ened colonists crowded on board the Hopeful Binning and
voted to give it up. However, twelve brave men re-
fused to turn back; they landed with a few provisions
and watched this second expedition sail away to Jamaica.
An epidemic broke out on the crowded ship and most
of them died before, or immediately after, reaching Kings-
ton.

The Company, knowing nothing of all this, was busy col-
lecting money and fitting out a third and greatest expedition.
By the middle of September, four fine ships, The Rising Sun,
The Hope, The Duke of Hamilton, and The Hope of Bo'ness,
with thirteen hundred men aboard, were riding at anchor in
the Clyde. About the 20th rumors came from New York
about the abandonment of New Edinburgh. The directors
dispatched an express to the fleet telling the councillors not
to leave until further orders. These worthy gentlemen,
fearing that delay might mean that someone else was to be
put in their places, disobeyed orders and set sail. It was
the 24th of September, 1699, when they left the Clyde. One
hundred and sixty died on the trip out. They arrived in the
harbor of New Edinburgh on the 30th of November, and were
mightily dismayed to find no one there but the twelve men

350 PANAMA

who had lived with the Indians since the burning of The
Olive Branch.

James Byres, a pillar of the Kirk, urged a retreat, saying
that "they were come not to settle a colony, but to reinforce
one." For once he was overruled and the company landed.
By some strange chance this arrant coward became the
dominant power in the council. After it was all over the
board of directors, after an investigation of his conduct,
declared that he had "not only violated the trust reposed
in him by the Company, . . . but was also guilty of several
unwarrantable, arbitrary, illegal and inhuman actings and
practices."

They had hardly landed when Byres started a trial for
high treason — over which he had no legal jurisdiction — and
on very slim testimony executed a man named Alexander
Campbell.

Once more the colonists discovered that there had been
fraud in the outfitting of the expedition. The merchandise
which they had been told was worth many thousand pounds
in colonial trade, turned out to be valueless. "We cannot
conceive," they wrote to the directors, "for what end so
much thin gray paper and so many little blue bonnets were
sent here, being entirely useless and not worth their room
in the ship." Some of the directors who were overstocked
in these commodities had unloaded them profitably on the
colonists. They also found that there was not nearly so
much brandy on board as they had paid for.

Strong drink played a role in this enterprise which is
hardly conceivable to people of to-day. That men who were
such ardent defenders of the Kirk should have been shame-
less drunkards seems strange in this age when most of our
clergy are prominent in the temperance movement.

A letter from the directors to the colony, dated June 13th,
1700, contains this surprising recommendation:

THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 351

"We understand that Andrew Livingston, Chirurgeon, late
prisoner in Cartagena, has made his escape and returned
to the Colony. We, therefore, desire that for the said Andrew
Livingston's encouragement at present, you would order him
four gallons of brandy for his proper use, over and above the
common allowance."

The General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland had ap-
pointed four ministers to accompany this third expedition.
They were especially instructed to convert the savages and
Spaniards. However, the ministers seem to have considered
any missionary work as impossible. They gave most of their
attention to the colonists and were a source of constant
trouble.

The Rev. Mr. Francis Borland, one of the four, wrote a
"History of Darien." It is rather dreary reading, mostly
given up to complaints and on the whole tends to substantiate
the claim of Sir John Dalrymple that these ministers were
the principal cause of the disorganization and disaster which
overwhelmed the colony.

"The people that our Company of Scotland sent over,
hither," Borland writes, "were most of them . . . none of
the best of men. And therefore the Ministers sent along
with them had small comfort in their company; their in-
structions and admonitions were but little regarded by them;
many of them seldom, and some of them never, attending the
public worship of God."

These ministers expected to be "comforted" instead of to
act as "comforters."

When they arrived at New Edinburgh and found it
deserted they announced that it was the evident Wrath of
God because of the impiety of the company. They got up
an amazing document — it is quoted at length in Borland
and seems to have been written by him — ordering the council
to set aside a day for Thanksgiving, Humility and Prayer.

352 PANAMA

Among the sins enumerated were "atheistical swearing and
cursing." There is something pathetic in the thought of
these ex-soldiers of Flanders, suddenly brought to book for
swearing. January 3, 1700, was the day chosen by the
council. Three sermons were preached, one on Thanksgiving,
one on Humility and one on Prayer. The service lasted until
three in the afternoon. And this was only a beginning.
Dalrymple writes: "They exhausted the patience of the
people by long services. ... In addition to the usual ob-
servation of the Sabbath, Wednesday was selected as a day
of devotion; and so much was the regular service augmented
that it frequently lasted twelve hours without interruption."

But the greatest cause of their unpopularity was their
arrogance. They refused to work. The colony was faced
by the necessity of creating a town, tilling fields for its main-
tenance, building forts for its protection. In this work the
ministers would take no part. Besides demanding that the
workers should give up two precious days a week to hearing
their sermons, they insisted that first of all four manses
should be built for them. Any one who suggested that some-
thing else might be more important than their comfort they
denounced as godless and impious. Through Byres they
managed to rule the council.

These four men furnish a strange contrast to the other
efforts to transplant the religions of Europe to the New
World. Catholicism seriously tried to convert the aborigines.
Some of the priests sent out by the Council of the Indies
were despicable men. But on the whole it was one of the
most devoted and spiritual missionary movements in the
history of the church — as it was also the most successful.

The Protestant colonies hardly made any effort to convert
the Indians. And on the whole the few devoted men who
tried to failed. But of all efforts to establish European
denominations in America this attempt of the Kirk of Scot-

THE PEESBYTEBIAN INVASION 353

land was the most dismal failure. The Puritans of New
England did not differ from them much in theology. The old
" Round Head" philosophy, " Trust in God and keep your
powder dry" carried the Plymouth Colony over its hard
places. These Scotch Presbyterians did not realize the value
of dry powder.

Things got so bad at last that nine men stole a canoe and
deserted, preferring rather to risk the Spanish prisons than
to live longer in this Kirk-ridden colony.

The Indians began bringing in news of war preparations
on the part of the Spaniards. But Byres scoffed at such news.
And the Rev. Mr. Francis Borland preached an able sermon
on the Scarlet Woman of Rome. However, when the danger
became imminent, Byres appointed himself a delegate to
go to Jamaica to try to persuade the governor to ignore the
royal proclamation and give them some provisions.

In a letter of the Rev. Alexander Shields dated February
21st, just after Byres had decided it was time for him to
leave, I find this description of conditions:

"Our sickness did so increase (above 220 at the same time
in fever and fluxes) and our rotten provisions were found
to be so far exhausted, that we were upon the very point
of leaving." They were prevented from abandoning the
colony, he continues, by the direct intervention of Provi-
dence.

This Divine Help consisted in a shipload of provisions
and, what was even more important, a real man — Captain
Campbell of Finab. He was of the Kirk party, but at the
same time had a valuable fund of common sense. He put his
foot down on the petty squabbles of the council, put men of
action in the posts of importance and mustered a little army.
On the 14th of February he made a dash into the jungle,
guided by the allied Indians, surprised and completely
destroyed a large force of Spanish soldiers from Panama

354 PANAMA

Neither Drake nor Sir Henry Morgan could boast of a more
brilliant feat of arms.

The ship in which Captain Campbell had come returned
to Scotland with an account of this victory. When the news
got abroad in Edinburgh the famous "Pate Steil's Parlia-
ment" assembled in the "Cross Keys Tavern" and decreed
that the city should be illuminated. They broke into St.
Giles Church. And soon the chimes, clanging out the ribald
tune, "Wilful Willie, wilst thou be wilful still," sent all the
housewives scurrying about for candles. All Edinburgh
understood and knew what it meant to disobey the decrees
of the people. All night long the mob wandered through the
streets, throwing stones through every window which was
not lit up. Old Edinburgh had not had such a celebration
in many years. Once more the "Company" became the
popular enthusiasm of the nation.

But this good news was the last to come out of New Edin-
burgh. On the 23d of February eight Spanish men-of-war
arrived off the harbor and began the blockade. Two days
later they were reinforced by three more ships-of-the-line.
The wrath of the Catholic king over this Presbyterian inva-
sion had been slow moving, but it was formidable. They
landed forces on both sides of the colony and began a regular
investment.

Captain Campbell led a number of brilliant sorties. But
the Spaniards stuck to their trenches — which they were
gradually pushing forward — and refused to risk a fight in
the open. On the 17th of March the Scots were forced out
of their advance works and driven back into their main fort.
By the 21st the Spaniards had pushed their trenches to
within musket shot and so had cut off the supply of fresh
water. In the records which the Scots left I find these
phrases: "The bread was mouldy and corrupt with worms,
and the flesh most unsavory and ill-scented." . . . "Some-

TEE PEESB7TEEIAN INVASION 355

times we buried sixteen men in a day." . . . "We could
hardly make out 300 able men fit for service. " . . . "The
water in our casks was sour."

On the 31st of March they came to the end of their endur-
ance and surrendered, on condition that they could leave
"with their colours flying, and drums beating, together with
their arms and ammunition and with all their goods."

They were so worn by hunger and disease that the Span-
iards helped them get their ships out of the harbor. It was
the llth of April, 1700, when they finally left. The sickness
which had decimated them ashore followed them aboard and
became epidemic. Out of the thirteen hundred who had
sailed from the Clyde only three hundred and sixty lived
through the expedition. The survivors "were mostly dis-
persed in Jamaica and the English settlements of America,
and very few returned to Scotland."

"The Company of Scotland, trading to Africa and The
Indies" was bankrupt. They had squandered two thousand
lives and over £200,000 on Paterson's dream.

But the dreamer, recovering from the fever in New York,
returned to Scotland and became again the practical man of
affairs. Paterson spent the remainder of his life in a success-
ful effort to pay back twenty shillings to the pound on this
immense debt.

CHAPTER XXI

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE

GREAT as were the depredations of the " Lutheran Pirates,"
this was not the main reason for the decline of the Spanish
colonies.

" Panama," writes Bancroft, "had comparatively little
indigenous wealth and was largely dependent for prosperity
on Spain's colonial policy. Unfortunately this was char-
acterized by a short-sightedness which eventually proved
disastrous both to the province and empire."

After the first rush of golden spoils from Peru had crossed
the Isthmus, its prosperity began to decline. For a while
the silver from the Potosi mines and scattering consignments
of booty from the west coast of Central America furnished an
appearance of business activity. But gradually these sources
of wealth ran dry, and no local industries, either on the
Isthmus itself or in the colonies which used it as a trade route,
had been developed. And so gradually the life of Panama
was smothered. No more expeditions outfitted in its harbor.
No returning argosies brought commerce to its market place.
The death rate from "fevers and fluxes" continued high and
fewer and fewer immigrants arrived from Europe. Even
the Creoles born on the Isthmus left for more healthy cli-
mates. Very few whites remained in the city which had
been once so proud.

Mr. Haring in the introductory chapters of his "The
Buccaneers in the West Indies" gives a very able analysis
of the fundamental causes which led up to this remarkable
decline.

356

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIEE 357

"At the time of the discovery of America the Spaniards,
as M. Leroy-Beaulieu has remarked, were perhaps less
fitted than any other nation in Western Europe for the task
of American colonization. Whatever may have been the
political role thrust upon them in the sixteenth century by the
Hapsburg marriages, whatever certain historians may say of
the grandeur and nobility of the Spanish national character,
Spain was then neither rich nor populous, nor industrious.
For centuries she had been called upon to wage a continuous
warfare with the Moors, and during this time had not only
found little leisure to cultivate the arts of peace, but had
acquired a certain disdain for manual work which helped
to mould her colonial administration and influenced all her
subsequent history. And when the termination of the last
of these wars left her mistress of a united Spain, and the
exploitation of her own resources seemed to require all the
energies she could muster, an entire new hemisphere was
suddenly thrown open to her, and given into her hands by a
papal decree to possess and populate. Already weakened
by the exile of the most sober and industrious of her popula-
tion, the Jews; drawn into a foreign policy for which she
had neither the means nor the inclination; instituting at
home an economic policy which was almost epileptic in its
consequences, she found her strength dissipated, and gradu-
ally sank into a condition of economic and political im-
potence. . . .

"The colonization of the Spanish Indies, on its social and
administrative side, presents a curious contrast. On the one
hand, we see the Spanish Crown, with high ideals of order
and justice, of religious and political unity, extending to its
ultramarine possessions its faith, its language, its laws and
its administration ; providing for the welfare of the aborigines
with paternal solicitude; endeavoring to restrain and temper
the passions of the conquerors; building churches and founding

358 PANAMA

schools and monasteries; in a word, trying to make its colonies
an integral part of the Spanish monarchy. . . . Some
Spanish writers, it is true, have exaggerated the virtues of
their old colonial system; yet that system had excellencies
which we cannot afford to despise. If the Spanish kings had
not choked their government with procrastination and rou-
tine; if they had only taken their task a bit less seriously
and had not tried to apply too strictly to an empty continent
the paternal administration of an older country, we might
have been privileged to witness the development and opera-
tion of as complete and benign a system of colonial govern-
ment as has been devised in modern times. The public
initiative of the Spanish government, and the care with
which it selected its colonies, compare very favorably with
the opportunism of the English and French, who colonized
by chance private activity and sent the worst elements of
their population, criminals and vagabonds, to people their
new settlements across the sea. However much we may
deprecate the treatment of the Indians by the conquistadores,
we must not forget that the greater part of the population
of Spanish America to-day is still Indian, and that no other
colonizing people have succeeded like the Spaniards in
assimilating and civilizing the natives. The code of laws
which the Spaniards gradually evolved for the rule of their
transmarine provinces, was, in spite of defects which are
visible only to the larger experience of the present day, one
of the wisest, most humane and best coordinated of any to
this day published for any colony. Although the Spaniards
had to deal with a large population of barbarous natives,
the word "conquest" was suppressed in legislation as ill-
sounding, ' because the peace is to be sealed,' they said,
'not with the sound of arms, but with charity and good-
will/

"The actual results, however, of the social policy of the

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIEE 359

Spanish kings fell far below the ideals they had set for them-
selves. The monarchic spirit of the crown was so strong
that it crushed every healthy expansive tendency in the new
countries. It burdened the colonies with numerous privi-
leged nobility, who congregated mostly in the larger towns,
and set to the rest of the colonists a pernicious example of
idleness and luxury. In its zeal for the propagation of the
Faith, the Crown constituted a powerfully endowed church,
which, while it did splendid service in converting and civiliz-
ing the natives, engrossed much of the land in the form of
mainmort, and filled the new world with thousands of idle,
unproductive, and often licentious friars. . . .

"In this fashion was transferred to America the crushing
political and ecclesiastical absolutism of the mother country.
Self-reliance and independence of thought or action on the
part of the Creoles were discouraged, divisions and factions
among them were encouraged and educational opportunities
restricted, and the American-born Spaniards gradually sank
into idleness and lethargy, indifferent to all but childish
honours and distinctions and petty local jealousies. To
make matters worse, many of the Spaniards who crossed the
seas to the American colonies came not to colonize, not to
trade or cultivate the soil, so much as to extract from the
natives a tribute of gold and silver. The Indians, instead of
being protected and civilized, were only too often reduced to
serfdom and confined to a laborious routine for which they
had neither aptitude nor the strength; while the government
at home was too distant to interfere effectively in their
behalf. Driven by cruel taskmasters they died by thousands
from exhaustion and despair, and in some places entirely
disappeared. . . .

"In the colonies the most striking feature of Spanish
economic policy was its wastefulness. After the conquest
of the New World, it was to the interest of the Spaniards to

360 PANAMA

gradually wean the native Indians from barbarism by
teaching them the arts and sciences of Europe, to encourage
such industries as were favored by the soil, and to furnish
the growing colonies with those articles which they could
not produce themselves, and of which they stood in need.
Only thus could they justify their monopolies of the markets
of Spanish America. . . . Queen Isabella wished to
carry out this policy, introduced into the newly-discovered
islands wheat, the olive and the vine, and acclimatized many
of the European domestic animals. Her efforts, unfortunate-
ly, were not seconded by her successors, nor by the Spaniards
who went to the Indies. In time the government itself,
as well as the colonist, came to be concerned, not so much
with the agricultural products of the Indies, but with the
return of the precious metals. Natives were made to work
the mines, while many regions adapted to agriculture, Guiana,
Caracas and Buenos Ayres, were neglected, and the peopling
of the colonies by Europeans was slow. The emperor,
Charles V, did little to stem this tendency, but drifted along
with the tide. Immigration was restricted to keep the col-
onies free from contamination of heresy and of foreigners.
The Spanish population was concentrated in cities, and the
country divided into great estates granted by the crown
to the families of the conquistadores or to favorites at court.
The immense areas of Peru, Buenos Ayres and Mexico were
submitted to the most unjust and arbitrary regulations,
with no object but to stifle growing industry and put them
in absolute dependence upon the metropolis. It was forbid-
den to exercise the trades of dyer, fuller, weaver, shoemaker
or hatter, and the natives were compelled to buy of the Span-
iards even the stuffs they wore on their backs. Another or-
dinance prohibited the cultivation of the vine and the olive
except in Peru and Chili, and even these provinces might not
send their oil and wine to Panama, Guatemala or any other

4

>.

SS

SI

THE DECLINE OF TEE SPANISH EMPIRE 361

place which could be supplied from Spain. To maintain the
commercial monopoly, legitimate ports of entry in Spanish
America were made few and far apart — for Mexico, Vera
Cruz; for Granada, the town of Cartagena. The islands
and most of the other provinces were supplied by uncertain
"vaisseaux c? registre," while Peru and Chili, finding all
direct commerce by the Pacific or South Sea interdicted, were
obliged to resort to the fever-ridden town of Porto Bello,
where the mortality was enormous and the prices increased
tenfold.

" In Spain, likewise, the colonial commerce was restricted
to one port, Seville. For in the estimation of the crown
it was much more important to avoid being defrauded of its
dues on import and export, than to permit the natural
development of trade by those towns best fitted to acquire
it. ..."

Just as Las Casas was always favorably received at court,
but almost always found that the most beneficent laws
could not or would not be enforced by the colonial officers,
so it turned out in regard to all the fair plans which the
Spanish kings made for the administration. Undoubtedly
the home government took its duty toward the New World
with more seriousness than did the other nations. But the
agents sent out to enforce the royal will were almost to a man
unprincipled malefactors.

De la Rios, the governor of Panama, who succeeded
Pedrarias while on the whole a mild mannered man and not
notable for his cruelty had, according to Bancroft, a thirst for
riches which surpassed the greed of his miserly predecessor.
So corrupt was his administration that he was sent back to
Spain in 1529 and convicted of malfeasance in office. An-
tonio de la Gama was governor until 1534 when he was dis-
placed in disgrace and Francisco de Barrionuevo put in
his place.

362 PANAMA

Under the administration of this military despot, it became
the turn for the white men to suffer. His predecessors had
thoroughly despoiled the natives and his only hope of ' ' get-
ting his" was to force loans from the merchants. A con-
temporary writer says: "Only that an ocean lay between
Charles and his down-trodden subjects, nineteen out of
twenty would have thrown themselves at his feet to pray
for justice."

Bancroft writes, that "of Pedro Vazquez, who succeeded
Barrionuevo as governor of Castilla del Oro, little is known,
but of Doctor Robles, the successor of Vazquez, under whose
administration the government was continued till 1546, it
is alleged, and probably with truth, that he wrought more
harm to his fellowmen in a twelvemonth than the malign
genius of a Pedrarias even could accomplish in a decade."

Robles was thrown out by the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro
and when the royal authority was restored the new series of
officials finding that both the natives and the colonists had
been milked dry by former administrations had to turn their
attention to the royal treasury. In 1579 a Corregidor of
Panama confessed on his death bed to having embezzled
over six thousand pesos de oro. In 1594 half a dozen city
officials formed a "ring" and between them cleaned up a
sum about equal to $1,500,000 in our money.

And beside the ravages of the official wolves the Isthmus
suffered a great deal from civil war. Between the discovery
of Peru and Morgan's raid, the city of Panama was sacked
and partially destroyed by Spaniards four several times.

At the time of Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion, some of his
ships under Hernando Bachicao captured the town, burned
down a large part of it, hung every one who would not shout
"Viva Pizarro." The rebels indulged in an orgy of lust
and bloodshed until Hinojosa, Pizarro's admiral, appeared
and restored order. During the next six months Nombre de

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE 363

Dios, the other city of the Isthmus, was captured three times.
Twice by the rebels and once by a loyalist force from Car-
tagena.

In March, 1550, de la Gasca reached Panama after his
successful suppression of the Peruvian rebellion. It re-
quired 1,200 mules to carry his store of royal treasure across
the Isthmus. The last pack train had only left the city a
few hours when a large fleet entered the harbor from the north.
It was under the command of some brothers named Contrera,
one of whom had been governor of Nicaragua. They had
run amuck and gathering a couple of hundred desperadoes
had set out to capture de la Gasca's treasure and then go on
to Peru where they planned to establish a separate kingdom.
They are said to have damaged Panama to the extent of
$5,000,000. But when they tried to follow de la Gasca across
the Isthmus they became entangled in the jungle, their forces
were scattered and cut up in piecemeal.

Added to these civil disturbances, a new danger came from
the Cimarrones.

These escaped negro slaves became so formidable that in
1554, a determined effort was begun to exterminate them.

Pedro de Ursua with two hundred soldiers was sent against
"King" Bayano, the most formidable Cimarrone chieftain
near Panama. There were six hundred negroes in this
band and it took de Ursua two years of uninterrupted cam-
paigning before he finally captured Bayano, and was able
to send him to Spain as a prisoner.

However, this was only a beginning. The number of the
Cimarrones constantly increased. They fought with des-
perate bravery, always preferring death to recapture. The
campaign against them waxed and waned. News would come
to Panama that the inhabitants of an outlying hacienda
had been massacred and the governor would send out some
soldiers to discipline the bandits. But the negroes were

364 PANAMA

at home in the jungle. The Spaniards would slash about
in the heavy underbrush a week or so and come back to town
with little accomplished. And every success of the Cimar-
rones encouraged more slaves to escape.

In 1574 the Spaniards were forced to the humiliation of
making a treaty of peace with their former servants. They
recognized the freedom of the Cimarrones and in return
received a pledge that in the future runaway slaves would
be returned. But to the credit of the negroes this pledge
was not kept and hostilities broke out afresh. Four years later
Pedro de Ortega Valencia was given special orders to exter-
minate them. But he fared little better than those who
' had tried it before.

To a certain degree the Cimarrones threatened the lives
of the Spaniards, but to a much greater extent they
threatened, by constantly depleting the labor-market, to
paralyze what little industry there was.

An official document of the day shows that in 1570 there
were two thousand negro slaves — a third of whom were
women — employed in fifteen gold mines in the western
part of the Isthmus; ten years later all were closed but
four.

The labor problem was very serious. By the end of the
sixteenth century almost all of the native Indians had dis-
appeared from the Isthmus except in the eastern part, now
called "The Darien." The fashion of slave-stealing and
murder set by Pedrarias and Espinosa had never been
checked. A royal Cedula of 1593 calls attention to the fact
"that no one had been brought to justice for any of the
extortions or cruelties to which the Indians had been sub-
jected." Two centuries after Columbus's voyage to the
Isthmus, full-blooded Indians in Panama were about as
rare as they are in New York to-day. The white men would
not work, and it was negro labor or none at all. And the

TEE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE 365

slaves escaped to the jungle more rapidly than they could
be brought to the Isthmus.

The maladministration on the part of the colonial officials
and the constant wars and alarums would have made any
healthy development of industry almost impossible. The
economic policy of the mother country which Haring refers
to as "almost epileptic," was an even more deadly blight
on the colony.

It was frankly monopolistic. Instead of taxing colonial
products enough to give the home manufacturer an unfair ad-
vantage, as we do, the Spanish government either forbade the
industry or the importation of the product. Their method
had the advantage over our " protective tariff" of being
simpler and more easily understood. Everyone knew, al-
though there were political economists even in those days,
that certain merchants of Spain had control of the Council
of the Indies and so of the throne.

A few enterprising colonists began grape culture in Peru.
They had grown up in a wine country and soon began
turning out a fairly good grade. Some of it was imported
to Spain, but that was at once forbidden. The colonial
wine, however, soon became popular in Panama and offered
a strong competition with home vintages. Thus threatened
in their profits, the Spanish wine growers sent a lobby to
Madrid and soon Philip II signed a Cedula, dated September
16, 1586, which forbade the sale of any wine on the Isthmus
except such as was imported from Spain. Its two logical
markets closed, the Peruvian wine growing died out — it is
just beginning to be revived.

This incident was typical. No industry was permitted
which could supply the colonists with any article manufact-
ured in Spain.

But the merchant princes of Seville were not only jealous
of colonial industry; they were equally hostile — and they

366 PANAMA

controlled the government — to competition in commerce.
In a preceding chapter (XVII) I quoted a letter from a
merchant in Panama which indicates that there was con-
siderable trade between that port and the Orient. The
"business interests" of Spain wanted this fat plum for
themselves and this traffic was forbidden. A Cedula of
1593 — three years later than the letter quoted — says :

"Toleration and abuse have caused an undue increase in
the trade between the West Indies and China, and a con-
sequent decrease in that of the Castilian kingdom. To
remedy this it is again ordered that neither from Tierra
Firma, Peru, nor elsewhere, except New Spain (Mexico) shall
any vessel go to China or the Philippine Islands to trade."

If this through trade with the Orient had not been so
arbitrarily cut off, the Isthmus would never have been for-
gotten by the world and the canal might have been built
years ago.

Even the pearl trade — Panama's one indigenous industry
— came to grief. At one time as many as thirty ships were
engaged in fishing. In 1587 six hundred pounds of high
grade pearls were received in Seville. But no withstraint was
put on the fishing and the oyster banks gave out.

In 1589 more than ninety ships came to the Atlantic ports
of the Isthmus. In 1601 the number had dropped to thirty-
two, in 1605 to seventeen.

Even the trade down the Pacific coast between Panama
and Peru was often interrupted for long periods. Hakluyt
gives an account which says that Panama city was short
of provisions, ". . . . for there is none to be had for any
money, by reasons that from Lima there is no shipping come
with maiz . . . But I can certifie . . . that all
things are very deeire here, and that we stand in great ex-
tremetie for want of victuals."

This insane economic policy could result only in killing

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIEE 367

the colonies — it could not enforce a real monopoly. Such
"restraints of trade" inevitably produce smuggling. Just as
moonshine whiskey is distilled in the United States, and
matches are smuggled into France, so in the Spanish colonies
illicit trade and contraband manufacture sprang up every-
where. In the face of the exceedingly high prices charged
by the monopolists of Seville, the English, French and Dutch
traders could run all the immense risks of smuggling and
still make big profits.

In "A History of the Voyages and Travels of Captain
Nathaniel Uring," I find this frank avowal:

"In the Beginning of the Year 1711, I went over in a
Sloop, well mann'd and arm'd, to trade on the Coast of
New Spain, and we carried with us a great Quantity of
dry Goods, and about 150 Negroes. We first touched at
Portobello, but being War-Time, we used to go to the Grout
within Monkey Key . . . about four or five Miles from
the Harbour and Town of Portobello . . . We lay at
this Place Trading for six Weeks in which Time the Spanish
Merchants at Panama had notice of our being there and
they came across the Isthmus to trade with us. These
Merchants frequently travelled in the Habits of Peasants,
and had their Mules with them, on which they brought
their Money in Jars, which they filled up with Meal; and if
any of the King's Officers met them nothing appeared but
the Meal, and pretended they were poor People going to Por-
tobello to buy some trifles; but they for the most Part went
through the Woods ... in order to prevent their being
discovered by the Royal Officers."

Almost all the old chronicles give the same story of illicit
trade. Francois Coreal, whose memoirs are as informal and
amusing as Captain Uring's are dry and ponderous, in speak-
ing of the monopoly which the Spanish crown tried to main-
tain in Peruvian Gold, writes, "mais les Marchands Espagnols

368 PANAMA

en font passer beaucoup dans des balles de Marchandise pour
frauder les Droits."

Now smuggling, like any violation of the laws, offers rich
chance for graft to the officials. When Captain Uring's
sloop with its " great Quantity of dry Goods" lay at anchor
in Monkey Key it is hard to believe that the Governor of
Puerto Bello did no know it. If he sent a warship to capture
it the virtue of having done his duty would be his only
reward. The confiscated cargo would have gone to the
Royal Treasury. Undoubtedly the ' ' Merchants at Panama ' '
had reasoned with him. Perhaps he himself needed a negro
slave, or more likely his good wife wanted some of those
"dry Goods." To drive away the smugglers meant humble
submission to the monopolist clique in Seville and no reward.
To ignore their presence meant prosperity for the local mer-
chants— some of which was sure to find its way into the
governor's pocket. So the trade throve.

Of course the merchants in Spain were forever protesting
against this contraband traffic. One Cedula was issued
after another to stiffen up the enforcement of the laws. It
was so easy for a Lutheran trader to hide in some of the
coves around Puerto Bello and land his cargo that it was
manifestly impossible to maintain the customs regulations
in that city. But there was only one road over which mer-
chandise could be taken across the Isthmus. So a sort of
toll-gate was set up at Venta de Cruces. All traffic between
the two oceans passed this place. It was a pretty good
scheme but it did not work. Bancroft, who with his assistant
writers, did an immense amount of research in regard to the
fiscal regulations and commercial decline of the Spanish
colonies, gives a report for the year 1624, which shows that
goods to the amount of 1,446,346 pesos de oro were registered
as passing through the Casa at Cruces, while more than seven
and a half millions worth were smuggled across.

THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIEE 369

Early in the seventeenth century the fraudulent traffic was
more than six times as great as the legitimate trade. By the
end of the century there was little trade of any kind.

Very little worth noting happened in the eighteenth century .
The Isthmus had become of so little importance that in 1718
it was deprived of its autonomy, and made an administrative
province of the Vice-Royalty of New Granada.

The Fates did not seem content to let the muy noble y muy
leal Ciudad de Panama rot. Three great fires, in 1737, 1756,
1777, swept the city and almost obliterated it.

A few people still recalled its glorious past, and dreamed
of glorious days to come, but Panama itself was so lifeless
that it could muster no energy to take any active part in
the Wars of Independence with which the next century began.

CHAPTER XXII

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE — MIRANDA

THE Isthmus of Panama played a very small part in the
revolt of the colonies against Spain.

It was an all-important station in the communication
between the mother country and the turbulent colonies of
the West Coast. The Spanish maintained a strong garrison
in the fortresses of San Lorenzo on the Caribbean, and
Panama City on the Pacific. The Isthmus was one of the
last provinces to throw off allegiance.

Her fate, however, was bound up with that of her sister
colonies, and especially with that of the Vice-Royalty of New
Granada. An historical account of Panama must include
a consideration of the overthrow of the Spanish Empire on
the mainland of America.

A very good condensed account of the Wars of Libera-
tion is to be found in "The Independence of the South
American Republics," by Frederic L. Paxson. In describ-
ing the general conditions which preceded the revolutionary
period, he writes:

"Exploitation and repression were the essential features
of the Spanish colonial system. If Buenos Ayres proved to
be a competitor to the Spanish merchants, her olive trees
must come down and vines must come up by the roots, for
it was clearly understood that Spain was to be protected,
and that the colonies existed only for the benefit of the
mother country. It is hard to see how such a system could
have been carried out honestly, or, if this were possible,
how it could have been endured. But the administration

370

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— MI BAND A 371

of Spain made the colonial system a means for recuperating
distressed fortunes, while the colonists utilized the cupidity
of their rulers to develop an extensive, illicit and profitable
foreign trade. . . .

"South America, strange as it may seem, in spite of cen-
turies of misgovernment and blindness on the part of the
mother country, was patriotic during those early years of the
last century, when patriotism was almost the only asset of
the Spanish peoples. The colonial system had been atro-
cious, but, keeping those at the bottom of the social scale in
dense ignorance, and allowing those on top to enrich them-
selves by illicit means, it had been successful."

The impetus which set the wave of revolt in motion was
Napoleon's effort to establish his brother on the throne at
Madrid.

On March 19, 1808, Charles the Fourth abdicated in
favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. The old king, however,
quickly changed his mind, regretted having made way for
his son, and called on Napoleon to assist him in regaining
his throne. This was just the sort of a pretext that Bona-
parte needed to get his finger into the Spanish pie. He
crossed the Pyrenees, deposed Ferdinand in the name of
Charles, then threw Charles overboard and put his own
brother, Joseph, on the throne.

If ever a great man was bothered by a good-for-nothing
family, it was the French emperor. By 1813, Joseph had
thoroughly demonstrated his inability to be a real king, and
Napoleon quarrelled with him. In December, he wrote to
him:

"You are no longer King of Spain. What will you do
now? Will you come to the defence of my throne? . . .
Have you sense enough to do this? If not, retire to the
obscurity of some country house near Paris. You will be
useless, but you will do me no harm."

372 PANAMA

Napoleon then put Ferdinand back on the throne.

At the news of the French aggression, a wave of patriotism
swept over Spanish-America. Almost without exception, the
colonies refused to recognize the new sovereignty. Provis-
ional governments, to represent the deposed king, were
proclaimed in almost every South American city. They
formed themselves on the model of, and at first allied them-
selves with, the legitimist Junta of Seville.

The first American Junta was established at Quito, in
August, 1809. It was short lived. Six months later, Cara-
cas in Venezuela followed suit. Deposing Emparen, the
governor, who sympathized with the French, they proclaimed
a federal government in the name of Ferdinand. Bogota,
the capital of New Granada, formed a Junta in July, 1810.
In December, they went a step further, and proclaimed a
republic, to administer the vice-royalty on behalf of the true
Spanish king. A similar movement, led by Buenos Ayres,
was growing in the South.

Not until 1811 did the movement for separation take
form. On July 5th of that year, the Congress of Venezuela
passed a resolution of independence. Paxton says: "The
wide-spread popular feeling which showed itself in this
movement . . . was founded on loyalty to Spain.
Many of the leaders of the day were individually in favor of
complete independence, but there was as yet no public
opinion to support them."

The two men who were most rigorously preaching seces-
sion in the northern provinces were Francesco de Miranda
and Simon Bolivar. They were both sons of wealthy Vene-
zuelans, and were both born in Caracas, the former in 1754,
the latter in 1783.

I can find no record that Miranda ever visited the Isth-
mus. But the scene which was enacted in Panama, when the
Spanish governor, hearing of the defeat of the last royalist

TEE WAE8 OF INDEPENDENCE— MIEANDA 373

army, voluntarily and without bloodshed, resigned his au-
thority to the patriots, was only the last act of the long drama
which began when Miranda was learning at the Siege of
Yorktown to dream of American independence.

In later life, Bolivar said: "The seed of liberty yields its
just fruit. If there is anything which is never lost, it is the
blood which is shed for a deserving cause."

It is interesting to apply this saying to Miranda, whom
Bolivar believed to be a traitor and sent to his death. The
historians of to-day who can study those events without
passion are agreed that Bolivar misjudged Miranda, and that
his death in a Spanish dungeon is the blackest stain on the
record of the great Liberator.

In 1779, Miranda, a youth of 23, came north and enlisted
in the Continental Army. He served his military appren-
ticeship under Lafayette, and was present with him at
Yorktown. He followed his general to Europe and enlisted
again in the cause of freedom in France. He distinguished
himself at Valmy and Jemappes, and rose to the rank of
major-general. His name is engraved on the Arc de Tri-
umphe. But in 1797, he fell under the displeasure of the
directoire, as did all who remained true to the early ideals
of the Revolution, and had to flee to England. For nine
years he wandered about Europe, trying to enlist sympathy
for the Spanish colonies among the enemies of the Most
Catholic King. His eloquence is said to have brought tears
to the eyes of Catherine of Russia. She promised to help, but
forgot her promise. In London he won the interest of Pitt
and another promise of help. But the rising power of
Napoleon distracted the attention of the English premier.
At last he came to the United States and sought the friend-
ship of Jefferson. In a letter to him, dated January 22nd,
1806, Miranda shows the visionary and poetic side of his
character. In this petition for military assistance, he quotes

374 PANAMA

from the Fourth Eclogue of Virgil. An English officer,
James Briggs, who later served under him, sums up his char-
acter in these words: " After all, this man of renown, I fear,
must be considered as having more learning than wisdom,
more theoretical knowledge than practical talent. He is
too sanguine and opinionated to distinguish between vigor
of enterprise and the hardness of intoleration." Later
writers have not improved on this contemporaneous char-
acterization.

Miranda organized a filibustering expedition in New York,
and sailed from that port on the Leander, in February, 1806.
The raid failed dismally. "One thing essential to a revolu-
tion," Paxton writes, "was lacking — the people of Vene-
zuela would not revolt."

There was, however, another reason for Miranda's failure,
which Paxton seems to have ignored. The filibustered did
not share his ideals. He personally furnished the enthu-
siasm and money for the venture. Very few of his men
shared his dream — even fewer were Venezuelans who were
moved by patriotism. Most of his little army were mer-
cenaries. Many had been tricked or impressed into the
expedition. A curious little volume published in Albany,
New York, in 1814, and written by one of these unfortunate
men, throws much light on this aspect of the enterprise.
It is entitled, "History of the Adventures and Sufferings of
Moses Smith during Five Years of his Life, from the Begin-
ning of the Year 1806, when he was Betrayed into the
Miranda Expedition."

It was not until they were many days out from New York
that some of the men found out the goal of the journey.
"Many of these men," Smith wrote, "had been forced into
this expedition against their will. They had not yet shed
blood nor taken any active part in warfare. The laws of
their native country were not intentionally violated by

,

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— MIEANDA 375

them, and they had not incurred the vengeance of any
other. They determined to escape." They were much
more interested in escaping than conquering. At last sixty
of them fell into the hands of the Spaniards. The officers,
ten in number, were executed, the rest rotted for several years
in the fetid prisons of Puerto Cabello.

Miranda escaped from this fiasco, and retired to London,
where he foregathered with the large company of political
refugees who had found asylum there.

As we have seen, Napoleon's attempt to turn Spain into
a family estate had met with resistance in the colonies. In
1810, the loyalist Junta in Caracas found itself threatened
by the French and dispatched commissioners to London to
enlist the aid of Great Britain and to secure arms and
ammunition for their militia. They chose young Simon
Bolivar for this mission. The Junta especially warned him
not to become entangled with Miranda, whose extreme
republicanism was known to and distrusted by the loyalist
Junta. But Bolivar had a very decided tendency towards
disobeying orders. He soon fell under the spell of Miranda's
eloquence, and, to the chagrin of his employers, brought the
old republican leader back with him to Venezuela.

The populace of Caracas gave them both an ardent ova-
tion when they entered the city. Elections were about to
take place for delegates to the provincial Congress. Miranda
was elected from the district of Barcelona. Three political
parties formed themselves in those days: the Loyalists, the
Bonapartists and the Republicans. Miranda led the third
of these parties on the floor of Congress, and Bolivar was the
most active spirit in the Society of Patriots. The political
association, in its ideas and influence, was not unlike the
Jacobin Club of the French Revolution.

On April 18, 1810, some commissioners arrived on behalf
of one of the political factions in Spain. Bolivar inaugu-

376 PANAMA

rated the separation movement by a speech before the
Society of Patriots, in which he argued that the inability of
the Spanish dynasty to maintain a stable government at
home was warrant and invitation for the Venezuelans to
govern themselves.

But the loyalist faction was still the strongest, and they
forced through a constitution which declared allegiance to
Ferdinand VII.

Nearly fifteen months passed before Miranda and Boli-
var could swing public opinion to their view point. On
July 5th, 1811, the Congress adopted a resolution, which
Bolivar had presented the day before to the Society of
Patriots, which declared the complete independence of
Venezuela. They adopted a new constitution, forming a
federated union of the prefectures of the colony, accepted the
tri-color flag of Miranda, and made him commander-in-chief
of the army.

Miranda, although he had proved himself a very capable
subordinate officer, lacked the essential qualifications of a
general commandant.

He had lived so long away from Venezuela that he scarcely
knew the men under him. He lacked quick decision, and in
the crisis which came ultimately, completely lost his head.

About this time a soldier of fortune named Monteverde
landed in Venezuela. He held Ferdinand's commission as
field-marshal. And finding no loyalist army to command,
he set to work to organize one. He made little progress at
first. The early months of the young republic were peaceful
and to a surprising degree prosperous. A new and profitable
trade had began to flow into its ports. It was rapidly
acquiring stability.

However, the clergy — the world over they have been hos-
tile to democracy — were busily but silently at work in the
loyalist cause. They had sedulously preached that the

TEE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— MIEANDA 377

wrath of God would surely fall on those who despised the
divine right of kings. On Holy Thursday, March 26th,
1812, less than a year after the declaration of independence,
their prophecy seemed to be fulfilled in a terrible earth-
quake, the worst Venezuela had ever known. The disaster
was most complete in those districts most strongly repub-
lican. The patriots seemed to be especially marked out for
destruction. Six hundred of their soldiers were buried in
the ruins of the barracks at Caracas, as many more were
lost in the town of San Felipe, and as many as twelve hun-
dred were killed at Barquisimento.

The priests came out in the open and began preaching a
Holy War against the patriots. Monteverde was just the
man to make the most of such an opportunity. He took the
field at once and drove the disorganized republicans out of
the town of San Carlos, where he established headquarters
and unfurled the Spanish flag. A second earthquake took
place on April 4th. It was not so disastrous as the first,
but it was enough to definitely turn the superstitious against
the republic.

Bolivar and other patriot leaders, who lived through the
days which followed, always maintained that by energetic
action Miranda might still have saved the republic. But
he developed a perfect genius for doing the wrong thing.
Instead of concentrating what was left of his forces, he dis-
persed them. Monteverde's army existed only in name.
He could hardly have repulsed a quick attack. Miranda
ordered Bolivar, with a small force, to go to Puerto Cabello,
to hold its fortress. Other detachments were sent in other
directions. Not till May 1st did he march out of Caracas
with his 1,200 men and take the field against the army
which Monteverde was rapidly recruiting and rapidly whip-
ping into shape.

After a few days' advance, Miranda suddenly changed his

378 PANAMA

mind and began a discouraging retreat. Monteverde caught
up with him at La Victoria and was defeated. But Miranda
failed to follow up this victory. He continued his retreat-
ing, losing men by desertion at every step. Bolivar, hear-
ing that Monteverde was threatening Puerto Cabello, sent
dispatches to Miranda, asking for reinforcements. Miranda
felt that he could not spare any.

On June 30th, the officer of the day in the fortress of
Puerto Cabello accepted a bribe from the loyalist prisoners.
He liberated them in the night and they surprised and
massacred the sleeping garrison. Bolivar with forty men
escaped into the city. For five days, with his forty men, he
tried to hold the city against the fortress. But on July 5th,
loyalist reinforcements from Monteverde arrived, and Bolivar
and his men escaped by boat to La Guayra.

On the 29th of July, Miranda, believing that Bolivar had
betrayed him, and utterly discouraged by the ease with
which the priests had turned the people away from the
republic, surrendered to Monteverde without a fight. By
his treaty he agreed that Venezuela would accept the author-
ity of the Spanish Cortes, and made terms with Monte-
verde, worthless as they afterwards proved, that no one
should be prosecuted because of political opinions.

The next day Miranda arrived at La Guayra to take ship
for England. The group of patriots in that city regarded
him with suspicion. They did not know the terms of his
treaty with Monteverde, and if they had known, would not
have trusted them. They clearly foresaw the proscription
which awaited them. When they asked Miranda the rea-
sons for his surrender, he maintained a haughty reserve.
In the crisis the Congress had created him dictator, and no
one had a right to question his actions. When they pressed
him for further explanations, he became insulting. Shortly
after he had retired for the night, fugitives arrived from

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— MIEANDA 379

Caracas, with the news that Monteverde had already begun
executing the patriotic leaders. They were amazed to find
that Miranda was in the city. He had promised to stay in
Caracas and act as a mediator with Monteverde. He had
left that city by stealth. After a heated consultation,
Bolivar and two other patriots awoke the old man and
arrested him and threw him into prison as a traitor.

The next morning the city was occupied by loyalist
forces. Monteverde, instead of releasing Miranda, as he
was bound to do under his treaty, sent him in chains to
Puerto Rico, and from there he was sent to Spain.

A British officer has left this note on a visit to the prison:
"I have seen this noble man tied to a wall, with a chain
about his neck, neither more nor less than a dog." This
old man, who had fought for liberty on three continents,
never again was free. He died July 14th, 1816, in the fort-
ress of La Caraca, Cadiz.

There is no shadow of evidence that Miranda was in any
sense of the word a traitor; but, beyond question, in the
supreme crisis of his life he proved a miserable failure.
There is small wonder that the group of patriots mistrusted
him. He had sent his best officer, Bolivar, away from the
seat of war, had sent him almost single-handed to defend
Puerto Cabello. After defeating Monteverde, he had con-
tinued his disastrous retreat. He had surrendered with no
apparent justification. He refused to explain himself. Such
action might well seem treasonable under the circumstances.
They mistook the broken-hearted old man for a traitor.
If they had shot him after a drum-head court martial, it
would not have been so bad. But to allow him to fall into
the clutches of the Spaniards was shameful.

The First Republic of Venezuela was practically an
isolated phenomenon. It alone of all the colonies had for-
mally severed its connections with the mother country.

380 PANAMA

However, while civil war had been devastating Venezuela,
a more subtle and also more permanent force had been at
work in the other colonies.

From the moment when the first patriotic juntas had
been formed, a relaxation had taken place in the rigid old
colonial laws which forbade commerce with other nations.
Foreign-made goods, which before had been introduced
into South America by means of smuggling, now had free
access. Foreign merchants, especially English, started
business in the ports. Buenos Ayres on the Atlantic; Val-
paraiso, Callao, Guayaquil on the west coast; Santa Marta,
Cartagena, Puerto Cabello and La Guayra on the Carib-
bean, became enriched by the flourishing new trade. The
colonists had become habituated to commercial freedom
and to local taxation during the time that King Ferdinand
was in exile.

When he was restored, he — in whose name they had
instituted many liberal reforms — turned out to be an ex-
treme reactionary. He treated his partisans in America
like traitors. He tried to re-establish all the old restric-
tions on colonial commerce. The home land had been
devastated by the long war over the Succession; he had
no place to turn for taxes, except the colonies. In the
olden days the Americas had laid many a golden egg for the
Spanish throne. His one idea was to start the process
again. But the people of South America did not submit
willingly to re-enslavement.

Secession was no longer the crack-brained dream of a
handful of Venezuelan enthusiasts, it had become "good
business." The foreign merchants who had established
themselves in the colonies, seeing themselves threatened
with exclusion and ruin, became a very active force in the
second phase of the revolutionary movement. Paxton
rather cynically remarks: "Commercial pressure was the

THE WAER OF INDEPENDENCE— MIEANDA 381

great influence in keeping the patriots patriotic." This is
perhaps an over-statement. But the foreign merchants
certainly were a great influence. Without their ready
financial assistance San Martin in the south, and Bolivar
in the north, could not have armed the patriots.

The downfall of Miranda marked the end of the idealistic
movement. In a few months a new movement sprang up
which was largely materialistic — and entirely successful.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE — BOLIVAR

WHEN the disastrous campaign of 1812 gave Venezuela
back to Spain, Bolivar fled to New Granada, and so more
directly enters the history of the Isthmus.

His early life had been unhappy. His father — a rich and
influential colonist — had died when he was an infant, his
mother when he was fifteen. He went to Spain with a tutor,
at nineteen had married a girl of sixteen. He had hardly
brought her home to Caracas when she died of yellow fever.
In 1805 he returned again to Europe. He saw Napoleon
playing skittles with crowns. And it is said that during this
trip he made an especial pilgrimage to Rome, and there on
the Sacred Hill made a vow to devote his life to the inde-
pendence of his people. He returned to Venezuela by way of
the United States, and by 1810 had risen to sufficient prom-
inence to be chosen by the Junta for the mission to London.

While under the influence of Miranda, he seems to have
accepted all the ideals of this enthusiast. His speeches at
the Society of Patriots are filled with the spirit of the Red
Republicans of Paris. At this period his idol seems to have
been Thomas Jefferson. But in later life he developed in the
opposite direction, becoming as ardent an advocate of
aristocracy as Alexander Hamilton.

When he reached New Granada, after the fall of the First
Republic in Venezuela, he found this vice-royalty, of which
the Isthmus was a province, in a wild ferment. A Junta

382

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 383

was claiming to govern it in the name of Ferdinand. But the
federalist tendency had gone to such extremes that each
province considered itself a " sovereign state," and a condition
of chaos had resulted. A few troops — hostile to the Junta —
occupied the lower valley of the Magdalena. Bolivar en-
listed as a private in the patriot army, and soon rose to a
small command. He began to manifest a brilliant genius
for guerilla warfare and also his marked habit of disregarding
orders. His commander-in-chief was a strategist of the old
school, the kind of general that Napoleon had so easily
overthrown in Europe. Bolivar was continually making
raids on his own initiative, which were so successful that the
Junta, in spite of his commander's frequent demands that
he should be court-martialed for insubordination, always
sustained him. In a few months he had cleared the district
of the enemy and had collected a little army of six hundred
men who were devoted to him and as dare-devil a crew as
ever took part in partizan warfare.

Meanwhile things had been going badly for the patriots in
Venezuela. General Monteverde had entirely repudiated
the amnesty he had pledged to Miranda. The execution of
suspects was a daily occurrence. It is doubtful if such a
long continued and devastating reign of terror has ever
existed — even in Russia. The nucleus of Monteverde's army
were old soldiers of the Napoleonic wars, mercenaries, hard-
ened by their profession of bloodshed, feeling themselves
alien from the conquered people. They played a role in
Venezuela similar to that of the Cossacks in present-day
Russia. The brutality and rapine of the allied armies at
the relief of the legations in Pekin did not exceed the cruelties
of these men.

Bolivar decided on the invasion of Venezuela. Castillo,
his commanding officer, was horrified at the suggestion of so
wild an adventure. Bolivar went over his head and appealed

384 PANAMA

to the Junta. It is doubtful if he waited for their authoriza-
tion. One thing is sure, the civil commissioners who were
appointed to accompany him never caught up with him.
With almost incredible speed, he had thrown his little com-
pany of six hundred across one of the low, northern passes
of the Andes and was in the midst of Venezuela, before
Monteverde knew he had started. Revolt broke out every-
where. Monteverde was able to capture a small force —
almost three hundred men — who were marching to join the
liberating army. Although prisoners of war, he massacred
them all. Bolivar replied by the famous proclamation of
"War to the death."

It is inexplicable how the human mind works, how it
decides what acts to condemn and hold in abhorrence. For
instance, history teaches us that the French Revolutionists
of 1871 were monsters. During the three months of the
Commune they executed about thirty-five royalists. The
victorious army of Thiers massacred almost as many thou-
sands of the Communards. Why we should condemn the
former act and not the latter is indeed inexplicable. Within
our more recent memory, some fanatical Moors at Casa
Blanca, stirred to fury by the actions of the Europeans in
tearing up a graveyard to make way for a railroad, murdered
a half a dozen of them. A week or so later, the French fleet
bombarded Casa Blanca in the night, killing hundreds of
sleeping women and children. The act of the Moors is con-
sidered an outrage; that of the Christians legitimate.

Almost every biographer of Bolivar condemns him severely
for this proclamation of "War to the death." It was simply
a declaration that as the enemy refused to carry on war in
the manner called civilized, the patriots would do the same.
If the Devil persisted in using fire, so would the revolution-
ists. As soon as Bolivar came into contact with Spanish
generals who were less devilish than Monteverde, he revoked

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAE 385

this decree and carried on his later campaigns in accordance
with the ordinary military conventions.

On the 14th of August, 1814, after a series of brilliant
actions, he entered Caracas in triumph. The civil commis-
sioners arrived from New Granada, and they ordered him to
call elections for a Venezuelan Congress to vote on a union
with New Granada. On the ground of military necessity, he
did not obey the letter of their instruction. He assembled
what he called a " council of notables." They appointed
him Dictator of Venezuela until the union of the two coun-
tries could be effected.

On the 3d of December he met Monteverde in a pitched
battle at Araure and defeated him. A new and much more
able general, Boves, now assumed command of the Spanish
forces. And with the spring of 1814 commenced a successful
campaign which ended in the complete defeat of Bolivar
at La Puerta. Once more he was compelled to flee. He
returned to New Granada. In spite of the disastrous ending
of his brilliant Venezuelan campaign, the Junta gave him
command of an army and dispatched him to reduce the city
of Santa Fe de Bogota, which had revolted from the federa-
tion. He performed this mission with a rare mixture of force
and diplomacy, and the Junta recognized his services by
making him captain-general of New Granada. As he was a
Venezuelan, this stirred up the jealousy of native officers,
and Bolivar became involved in a disheartening mess of
cheap political intrigue. At last he threw up his commission
in disgust and retired to the English island of Jamaica. Here
the first of a long series of unsuccessful attempts to assas-
sinate him was made by the secret agents of Spain.

Meanwhile Ferdinand was reseated on the throne at
Madrid. The colonies had refused to submit to the old
embargo laws on their commerce. A punitive expedition
was sent out under the command of Morillo, a general of

386 PANAMA

much experience and great prestige. In July, 1815, he arrived
off Cartagena with two ships -of -the -line, six frigates,
seventy transports and 12,000 veteran troops. For six
months the patriots held out in the fortress of Cartagena,
but were at last reduced by starvation. By June, 1816,
Morillo had fought his way up to Bogota and sent a letter
to Ferdinand in which he boasted that he had not "left alive,
in the Kingdom of New Granada, a single individual of
sufficient influence or talents to conduct the revolution."

This was the darkest period for the cause of independence
in the northern provinces. Morillo was supreme in New
Granada. Boves had suppressed almost all resistance in
Venezuela. Only a few bands of "Llaneros," as the Spanish
call their cowboys, kept up a desultory guerilla combat,
under Marino and Paez, in the interior. But the patriots
had no regular army in the field.

Bolivar, however, did not know that there was such a
word as discouragement. At the time when the great earth-
quake had overthrown the First Venezuelan Republic, he
had exclaimed: "If Nature opposes us, we will wrestle with
her and compel her to obey!" And now, when for a second
time the cause of independence seemed to others hopelessly
lost, Bolivar was at work with undimmed faith. He had
gone to Hayti and had made friends with that noble old
negro, Alexandre Pelion, the president of the Republic.
He helped the Venezuelan revolutionist to outfit a filibuster.
"When your expedition shall land," he said to Bolivar, "free
the slaves. For how can you found a republic where slavery
exists?" Bolivar at once freed all his own slaves; it was his
continued advocacy of abolition which as much as anything
else kept the United States from assisting the Spanish col-
onies in their revolt.

With six ships and a handful of exiles, he made an unsuc-
cessful raid on the island of Margarita in May, 1816. In

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAE 387

December of the same year he made another effort and this
time with success. Using the island as a base, he descended
on the mainland and captured the port of Barcelona, two
hundred miles east of La Guayra. Here, for the third time,
he proclaimed the republic. He was never again to be driven
from Venezuela by the Spaniards. The tide had turned.
Although he had yet to meet many reverses, the flag of
independence has not since been hauled down in Venezuela.

Bolivar moved inland to help Marino's guerillas near
Santo Tomas de Angostura. Morillo, the Spanish general,
had hurried to Venezuela at the first news of Bolivar's opera-
tions. By a brilliant dash a Spanish force under General
Aldama captured Barcelona behind the Liberator's back.
Here Aldama massacred the seven hundred soldiers of the
garrison, three hundred non-combatants, including women
and children, and the fifty invalids he found in the hospital.

Bolivar moved his capital to Angostura, and was rapidly
consolidating his government. He sent out summons for a
national congress. During this year occurred an incident
around which much hostile criticism of Bolivar centered
— the execution for treason of General Manuel Carlos Piar.

The enemies of Bolivar claim that he caused Piar's execu-
tion in order to rid himself of a dangerous rival in the affec-
tions of the army. However, there seems to be good evi-
dence that while an officer of Miranda's army, Piar had been
guilty of an attempt to sell himself to Monteverde — at least,
finding himself under such suspicion, he deserted. In 1816
he had met Bolivar in Hayti and had won forgiveness. Boli-
var made him a major-general in the invading army. He
distinguished himself as an officer, winning a brilliant victory
at San Felix in April, 1817. Evidence of a second conspiracy
sufficient to satisfy the court-martial was brought against
him and he was shot at Angostura, October 16, 1817. The
justice of court-martial is notoriously uncertain. And Bolivar,

388 PANAMA

as he had shown in his conduct towards Miranda, was of a
suspicious nature. But it seems foreign to his character
to have used his great personal power to make way with an
able lieutenant because of petty jealousy.

The year 1818 passed in indecisive campaigns. There was
continual skirmishing, but no decisive engagements.

The second congress of Venezuela assembled in February,
1819, at Angostura. Bolivar resigned from the dictatorship
and was promptly re-elected. During the preceding year
he had recruited a foreign legion, formed principally from
Irish and English veterans of the continental wars. His
native troops were mostly cavalry. The foreign legion gave
him his necessary infantry.

As soon as congress had assembled, Bolivar took the field
again. He recaptured Barcelona, which, in giving him a
seaport for the free importation of ammunition and supplies,
greatly strengthened his position. Morillo, however, had
12,000 trained soldiers, and was too strong to be met in an
open battle. Morillo was a wily old general. He saw in
Bolivar the soul of the revolt, and he was concentrating
every effort to annihilate him and end the revolution. He
believed that New Granada had been thoroughly cowed, and
he practically denuded that province of troops in his desire
to overwhelm Bolivar with numbers.

Bolivar was not the kind of a spirit to accept the apparent
necessity of a Fabian campaign. The very odds which
Morillo was gathering against him gave him the hint which
developed into the most brilliant proof of his military genius.
Leaving Paez in command of the native cavalry, with instruc-
tions to continually harass Morillo, but avoid a battle, he
assembled the pick of his army, five hundred of the foreign
legion and two thousand Venezuelans, and dashed up the
valley of the Cosnare towards the high Andes — and New
Granada.

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 389

As ordinarily happened, Bolivar made this move without
asking any one's consent. As soon as he disappeared in the
depths of the Cordilleras — Morillo, when he heard of it, called
it a " military delirium " — the Venezuelan patriots denounced
him as a traitor and made General Marino dictator in his
place. But Bolivar had lost communication with Angostura
and knew nothing of this. He inspired his men to persist
in their advance in the midst of incredible hardships. The
marches of Hannibal and Napoleon across the Alps were
child's play to this raid. Almost all of their horses and
many of the men perished in the Arctic climate of the high
mountains. Although the distance was less than a hun-
dred miles it took the army of liberators almost a month
to get across.

General Barreiro, the Spanish commandant of New Gra-
nada, could only muster three thousand men to meet the
invaders. The natives gave what assistance they could in
the way of provisions to the famished army, and Bolivar
was able to remount most of his cavalry before he met the
Spaniards. By making a flank movement instead of accept-
ing immediate battle, Bolivar, after a brisk skirmish, on the
22d of July occupied the town of Tunja. This put him
between Barreiro and his base of supplies at Bogota. The
Spaniards were compelled to attack, and on August 7th were
utterly defeated at Boyaca. Barreiro, nearly all his officers
and over half his men were captured. This battle put a
definite end to Spanish rule in all of New Granada except the
Isthmus of Panama. The next day Bolivar entered Bogota.

He returned at once to Venezuela to report his victory
to the congress in session at Angostura. They promptly
forgave him for having deserted them to conquer New Gra-
nada, and re-elected him dictator. He had brought with him
a formal request for the union of the two countries.

Then followed many months of bitter debate over the form

390 PANAMA

of constitution. Bolivar had become separated in thought
from his old associates of the Society of Patriots. He was
no longer the extreme democrat he had been as a youth,
when under the influence of Miranda. His experience with
the political turmoil of New Granada — the rivalry of petty
" sovereign states" — had sickened him with the federal form
of government. As a man of action, he had become disgusted
with the intriguing of raw, inexperienced democracy. But
he also was a dreamer, and his dream, which extended far
beyond the frontiers of his native land, even farther separated
him from his old friends. He felt that nothing was accom-
plished so long as the Spanish flag remained anywhere on
the American continent. While their lawyers were becoming
eloquent over the rights of constituent states of Venezuela
and New Granada, and maintaining that perfect liberty
could only exist in a loose federation, Bolivar realized that
the war of independence was by no means over, that he had
more to fear from political intrigues in his own capital than
from Spanish generals, that for the great purpose of freeing
the continent — his dream also included Cuba and the Phil-
ippines— a strong centralized government, essentially mili-
tary, was more needful than the granting of franchises to
illiterate peons. All these considerations forced him to advo-
cate a policy which the true democrats, the disciples of
Rousseau and Jefferson, denounced as reactionary. And
certainly a like verdict would fall on any one who advocated
the same measures in a settled democracy to-day.

However, there was nothing underhand in Bolivar's
opposition to thorough-going democracy. He spoke of liberty
as an island against which beat alternate waves of tyranny
and chaos. These excerpts from his speeches before the
Angostura Congress plainly show the trend of his thought:

"It is more difficult to maintain the equilibrium of liberty
than to sustain the weight of tyranny."

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 391

"The people more frequently than the government bring
in tyranny."

" Pisistratus, an usurper and a despot, did more good to
Athens than her laws. . . . The republic of Thebes ex-
isted only during the lives of Pelopidas and Epaminondos,
for it is men, not principles, which form governments."

"Angels alone, and not men, can exist free, peaceable
and happy in the exercise of sovereign power."

He had indeed swung round entirely from his former posi-
tion; he quoted no more from Jefferson; he had become an
advocate of the doctrines of Hamilton.

He asked for a hereditary legislature of very limited
power. It was to be chosen by limited suffrage and do little
but elect a president with dictatorial powers. All the other
officers of the state were to be chosen by this chief executive.
As there was no possibility of any one else being chosen as
president ; he was practically asking for supreme power.

The example of Napoleon was too fresh in the minds of
men to allow the patriots to hand themselves over thus bound
to any individual. They were in the embarrassing position
of wanting a man on horseback who would not trample on
them. The result was a compromise. Bolivar's ideas on
centralization were adopted, but the advanced democrats
won on the other points at issue. This constitution was
adopted on the 17th of December, 1819, and Bolivar was
elected president of the new Republic of Colombia.

There was a desultory campaign in 1820. And in the
spring of the next year, Bolivar took the field with a splendid
army of 15,000. His foreign legion had grown to two thou-
sand. General Morillo had returned to Spain, and had been
superseded by General Torre. The decisive battle came
on June 24th, at Carabobo, where the Venezuelan cavalry,
under Paez, completely overthrew the last Spanish army.
Torre retreated to Puerto Cabello. This fortress and that

392 PANAMA

of Panama, which dominated the Isthmus, were all that re-
mained of the Spanish Empire in northern South America.
Within a few months the people of Panama proclaimed
their independence and entered the Colombian Union.
Puerto Cabello held out until 1823.

Bolivar, at the height of his popularity, was by no means
ready to lay down his arms. In the spring of 1822 he
marched out of Bogota with his army of veterans to liberate
Ecuador. On the 7th of March he defeated a strong Spanish
force at Bompono. His advance was checked by a stubborn
resistance and almost impassable mountain barriers. But
on the 24th of May his able general, Sucre, who had landed
with another army at Quayaquil, overthrew Spanish author-
ity in Ecuador by a brilliant victory at Pinchincha. This
opened the road to Bolivar, and he entered Quito on the
16th of June, the same day that John Quincy Adams recog-
nized the independence of Colombia by officially receiving
her charge" d'affaires at the White House. The newly-freed
state joined the Republic of Colombia.

While this long war had been going on in the north, a
similar struggle had been waged in the south. And as Bolivar
had risen to pre-eminence in the Colombian army, so a
general named Jose de San Martin had won the title of
Liberator of the South. Starting out from Argentina, he
had freed Chili and the largest part of Peru.

In many ways his career had been similar to Bolivar's.
He had led an army across a pass of the Andes, which was
supposed to be impossible. More than once he had snatched
victory from defeat by an act of rank insubordination. But
in character he was the opposite of Bolivar. Extremely
modest and retiring, he stuck much more closely to his pro-
fession of arms. He seems to have had no personal ambition,
and to have held politics in abhorrence.

On the 22d of July, 1822, San Martin came up from

THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 393

Callao to meet Bolivar at Guayaquil. What happened in
their long private interview no one knows. After it, San
Martin returned to Callao and resigned from the dictator-
ship. The Peruvians offered him 10,000 ounces of gold for
his services. He accepted only three thousand dollars, and
sailed with his daughter to England, where he lived and died
in obscurity.

The enemies of Bolivar claim that San Martin proposed
a joint campaign against the remaining Spanish forces in
Peru, even offered to accept a subordinate position, but that
Bolivar, ambitious to monopolize all the glory of the libera-
tion, would not accept his co-operation under any terms.
But the frequency with which he allowed his own generals,
Paez and Sucre, to win fame by commanding in decisive
battles seems to militate against this explanation. I have
not been able to find any account of this meeting from the
pens of any of Bolivar's friends.

Bolivar waited impatiently in Ecuador for the Peruvians
to invite his assistance in finishing the work which San Martin
had left. But his enemies had so industriously spread stories
of his Napoleonic ambitions that the Peruvians were afraid
of him and decided to finish off the remaining Spaniards
themselves. But one after the other, their two armies
were defeated by General Conterac, who was the most able
soldier that Spain had sent out to the colonies. When
Conterac recaptured Lima, the capital, the patriots buried
their distrust of Bolivar and sent him an urgent appeal.
Sucre took the first section of the Colombian army to Peru.
Bolivar arrived the first of September with the main guard.
All that was left of the Peruvian congress assembled and
pronounced him protector and dictator. On August 7, 1824,
with a picked army composed of his own and San Martin's
veterans, he defeated the Spaniards at Junin. Bolivar re-
turned to Lima to straighten out his political affairs, leaving

394 PANAMA

Sucre in command to deliver the coup-de-grace. On Decem-
ber 9th the final battle took place at Ayacucho. Sucre's
veterans completely overthrew the Spaniards and ended
the war in Peru.

Sucre followed up his victory by leading his army into
the province of Upper Peru (now Bolivia), the last strong-
hold of the royalists. The fighting had been severe there
for many years, and the population rose as a man to greet
the delivering army. The province was liberated without a
battle, and the great war of independence was over. The
newly-freed province named itself Bolivia, in honor of the
liberator, and practically offered him the crown. This was
only one of many times when Bolivar, if he had been at
heart the monarchist his enemies maintained, could have
acquired a throne.

Instead, he drew up the "Codigo Boliviano." It was, I
suppose, as good a constitution as one could expect from a
soldier. It was not, however, anything like so workable
a document as the "Code Napoleon." Bolivar gave free
expression to the anti-democratic tendency he had so
clearly enunciated years before at . the Congress of An-
gostura.

The constitution, written in his own hand, and which he
repeatedly announced as his profession of political faith,
provided for a life president who could nominate his successor.
The principal novelty was that each group of ten citizens
should elect one of their number as a general elector. The
other nine were then to retire to the shade of their fig-tree
and forget all about politics for four years — until time to
choose a new elector. It was an immensely complex instru-
ment. The Bolivians swallowed it without amending a word.
And Sucre was chosen president for life.

Bolivar returned to Peru to force his pet constitution
on that country, and in a decidedly high-handed manner

THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— EOLIVAE 395

succeeded. The news reached him that a secession move-
ment, inspired by the old distaste to a centralized govern-
ment, had broken out in Venezuela, under his old companion
in arms, Paez.

How far Bolivar had become personally ambitious, how
often he allowed himself to dream of an imperial crown, no
one will ever know. It is beyond dispute that with clear-
sighted vision he foresaw the political chaos, the revolutions
and counter revolutions, which were to disturb the great
continent to whose freedom he had dedicated his life. That
he dreamed of welding all the old colonies into a stable
united nation is proven by almost all his speeches and letters.
However, it was a hopeless dream. The chief grievance of
the Spanish colonies had for a couple of centuries been the
lack of home rule. All their ills had come from a distant
administration. The one thing on which the Latin Americans
were united was a passionate desire for autonomy. An em-
pire cannot be built on such a motive. Under the enthusiasm
of the war of independence Bolivar had been able to hush
the universal demand for home rule. Now that the last
battle had been fought, the old issue came to life with
redoubled vigor.

On the 22d of June, 1826, just twenty years after Miranda's
disastrous filibuster on the Leander, Bolivar's Pan-American
Congress assembled at Panama. Mexico, Central America
and the South American states, dominated by Bolivar, sent
delegates. Chile and Argentina, fearing that the Congress
was to be a pretext for him to spring his imperial con-
spiracy, did ( not co-operate. Among other resolutions, the
Congress adopted the following, dictated by Bolivar:

"The Republics of Colombia, Central America, Peru, and
the Mexican States, do mutually ally and confederate them-
selves in peace and war in a perpetual compact, the object
of which shall be to maintain the sovereignty and indepen-

396 PANAMA

dence of the confederated powers against foreign subjection
and to secure the enjoyment of unalterable peace."

Nothing was accomplished at this congress beyond the
proclaiming of this ideal of Latin- American unity. All the
contracting parties promptly fell into civil war. But the
ideal gains ground year by year. The five republics of
Central America now have an arbitration treaty; Chile and
Argentina also. Our Bureau of American Republics and the
frequent Pan-American congresses are knitting these neigh-
bors of ours into closer unity every day. In some not too
distant day the ideal of the Great Liberator will be realized.

Bolivar returned to Bogota and tried to bring order out
of the chaos of the Colombian republic. The congress refused
to accept his Codigo Boliviano. Peru threw off her allegiance
to him. And some of his old veterans — ardent republicans —
whom he had left in Peru, believing in the stories of his
treason, started north to protect their country against his
ambitions. The secessionist movement in Venezuela was
continually growing. His own people began to plot his
assassination. At last in January, 1830, he again tendered
his resignation. The congress refused to accept it. The
revolted province of Venezuela voted him a pension on con-
dition that he would never set foot in the country again.
This seems to have broken his heart. Although not old in
years, the two decades of continual campaigning had worn
him out. In April he resigned definitely, determined to
retire to private life abroad.

Seven miles before reaching the port of Santa Marta,
where a ship was waiting for him, he heard that Bolivia had
risen in revolution; they had repudiated his Codigo Boliviano,
and his dearest friend, Sucre, had been assassinated. He
broke down completely, and died on the 17th of December,
in the little village of San Pedro.

CHAPTER XXIV

EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT

THE man who discovered gold in California indirectly
affected the Isthmus more profoundly than any person since
Columbus, who discovered it.

The misguided colonial policy of Spain had killed the
trade of her American possessions. Commerce had not re-
vived during the thirty years of independence. It is hard
for us to-day to realize how far off the west coast of Amer-
ica was in the fifties. The Chinese ports were in more fre-
quent communication with Europe and New York, than
were Valparaiso and San Francisco. What little trade there
was went around the Horn or the Cape of Good Hope.
There was no regular transit across the Isthmus. Many a
person lived and died in Panama without ever having seen
the Atlantic, less than fifty miles away. A few muleteers
kept up an intermittent transportation of merchandise and
mail along the old road, which had once been the route of
half the wealth of the world.

The discovery of California gold and the rush of '49 woke
the Isthmus from its long sleep. The trail across the Great
Desert by " prairie schooners" was long and expensive and
dangerous. New routes were established across Nicaragua
and Panama. The latter proved the more popular.

The number of people who used this route is almost
incredible. They came by boat from New York to Chagres,
a small town at the mouth of the famous river, went up-
stream in native boats to Gorgona or Cruces, and then by

397

398 PANAMA

mule over the old Spanish road to Panama. Sometimes in
the dry season as many as three or four thousand would
cross, going or coming, in a week! Of course there were no
accommodations for such a horde of immigrants. The hard-
ships suffered were appalling.

In 1851 a little book was published by Dr. E. L. Auten-
rieth of Panama, called, "A Topographical Map of the
Isthmus of Panama . . . with a few Accompanying
Remarks for the use of Travellers."

"Chagres is," he writes, "an unhealthy place; but it
cannot be denied, that a great deal of the sickness prevail-
ing here must be ascribed to the terribly bad food every-
one is compelled to eat. . . .

"Crossing the Isthmus in the dry season is certainly a
pleasant trip, if reasonable precautions are taken, and pro-
visions for a few days are carried along; but any journey
during the rainy season, from May until December, will
certainly be full of hardship and danger so long as this com-
plete want of conveniences and provisions shall exist. We
hope the railroad company will succeed in their endeavour
to reach Gorgona before the next rainy season, and if,
moreover, as is contemplated, a good mule road is opened
from Gorgona to the Cruces road, the crossing will be a deal
easier, and an express might reach Panama" in twelve hours
after leaving Navy Bay. The distance from Chagres to
Panama", in a straight line, is not fully thirty-eight miles,
and yet I met a great many who were compelled to spend
seven or eight days in crossing, being exposed to the heaviest
rains, unable to obtain food or a comfortable place to lie
down at night, or a spot where to dry their wet clothes.

"All who intend to cross the Isthmus, ought to provide
themselves with some provisions, such as good hams, smoked
tongues or sausages, pickles, good coffee, and their accus-
tomed drinks; a good blanket; if in the rainy season, a light

EAELY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 399

india-rubber overcoat and leggings; also an umbrella. These
should never be omitted. . . .

"If you have Indians for boatmen, I would advise you not
to be too friendly, but at the same time to be careful not to
insult them or act in an overbearing manner.

"I was told by boatmen of mine, that boats had fre-
quently been upset, and passengers' lives endangered, in
consequence of their overbearing and inhuman treatment of
the Indians. Negroes and Griffs are in far worse repute
then the full-blood Indians; they are regarded as lazier,
more malicious, and dishonest; therefore deal with Indians
in preference. . . .

"The Cruces road is shorter than the one at Gorgona by
about two miles, but far worse to pass over. From Cruces
to Cruz de Cardenas, the place where the two paths meet,
is certainly the worst and most fatiguing road we ever
travelled. There are no high mountains with abysses, which
would present great obstacles to making a good road, if
hands could be obtained to do the work. It seems that long
before the Spaniards came to the country the rain had
washed off, at certain places, the ground from the rock
below, and particularly at such spots where, by the forma-
tion of the rock, a fissure was left. These places presented
a solid foundation for the feet of oxen and horses during the
rainy season, and were therefore selected for crossing, and
by connecting the different gullies with each other, the so-
called Cruces road was established.

"In consequence of the continued passing of mules, these
gullies have deepened in some places to a depth of about
thirty feet, narrowing towards the bottom, which at some
places is not over two feet wide. That through such defiles
only one mule after the other can pass, is easily understood;
and if two parties meet, one is compelled to turn back.
When this happens it is not always accomplished without

400 PANAMA

difficulties. To avoid collisions, the arrieros (mule-drivers)
will give, before entering, whoops, which are immediately
answered by the party inside. It is stated that F. Pizarro,
the conqueror of Peru, ordered the paving of this road,
which was done with large round stones, sometimes a foot
and a half in diameter. Since Panamd sunk into insignifi-
cance this pavement has been entirely neglected, and is now
completely broken; and the big stones are lying loose and
in great disorder, where formerly there was a pavement.

"This is the principal cause of the abominable state of
the road at this time. It is astonishing that the mules are
capable of passing at all over these loose heaps of round
stones, with a load on their backs.

"At the places where no pavement was needed the rock is
often excavated by the shoes of the mules in such a manner
that a series of holes, sometimes more than a foot deep,
have been produced, leaving a ridge of the rock between
each hole; these are the most dangerous places for passing;
the mule has to proceed with great caution, or he will fall.
Fortunately such spots do not occur very frequently."

As fast as sections of the Panama railroad were opened
it was used by the prospectors. But until its completion in
1855 part of the old route was used. One of the most inter-
esting accounts of those days is found in a report of the
surgeon attached to the Fourth United States Infantry.
They crossed, en route for garrison duty in California,
during the rainy season of 1852. The Captain Grant re-
ferred to in the report was later to become famous at Appo-
mattox Court House and to enter the White House.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.,

September 14, 1852.

SIR: The occurrence of malignant cholera in the Fourth regiment of
infantry, which I accompanied from New York to California, seemed
to me to require that I should make a special report to you upon the

COLONEL GOETHALS'S HOME.

PART OF THE LABOR PROBLEM.

EABLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 401

subject. I have, therefore, made a report of the sick of that regiment
up to the 31st August, and beg leave to accompany it with the following
remarks :

The regiment was concentrated at Fort Columbus, New York, in
obedience to orders from the War Department, the last company
having arrived on the 23d June. On that day 243 recruits were received
and examined. On the evening of the 2d July, a telegraphic order
was received for the troops to embark on the 5th. On the evening of
the 3d July, about 150 more recruits were received and examined.
On the 5th July eight companies of the regiment, with the band and
headquarters, were embarked on the United States mail steamer Ohio,
bound for Aspinwall, New Granada. We had a good deal of diarrhoea
among our men during their stay at Governor's Island, but it was quite
manageable, and when we embarked I did not consider it necessary to
leave but one man in the hospital; he was recovering from a broken
leg, and would not have been able to march across the Isthmus. The
Ohio was a large ship, as to tonnage, and in that respect, capable of
carrying our whole command; but her room is so badly distributed
that we should have been crowded had there been no other passengers.
Our command, including women and children, was about 800. We
had, however, all told, passengers, crow, etc., 1,100 on board. This
was altogether too many people for her accommodations at that season
of the year, and in a voyage to the tropics. We, however, reached
Aspinwall on the 16th July, without losing a man. We had a number
of cases of both diarrhoea and constipation, and a few cases of fever
on the voyage. Our sick report, nevertheless, was very small upon
landing. One man (the bandmaster), sick with chronic diarrhoea, had
sunk so much on the voyage I was obliged to leave him on the ship,
where he died two days afterwards.

On the voyage I had endeavored to impress upon the commanding
officer the necessity of preventing the men from eating the fruits of the
country, and from indulging in any of the liquors they would meet
with on the march. A very judicious order, embracing these views,
was issued previous to our debarkation. I am sorry to say, however,
it was not observed on the march. Had it been strictly obeyed, I think
we should have been spared much suffering. It being the height of the
rainy season when we reached the Isthmus we were much embarrassed
by the state of the roads; by rains every day; by the extreme heat
and by the epidemic influences prevailing.

Cholera existed at Aspinwall when we landed. It had been very
fatal a short time previously among the laborers on the railroad, in

402 PANAMA

consequence of which they had very generally abandoned the work.
Forty laborers out of one hundred, I was told, had died at one station.
It was existing at both Graces and Gorgona on the route — points we
were obliged to pass — and at both of which we were unfortunately
detained. We found it also at Panama upon our arrival there.

Notwithstanding all this, and the cautions in the order of march,
the men had no sooner been permitted to land to procure water, than
numbers of them sought the first tavern they could find, to indulge
their fatal craving for liquor. Many were brought back on board that
night intoxicated and drenched with rain. Fruits were also eaten
with avidity whenever they could be procured.

As we did not reach Aspinwall until after the departure of the daily
train of cars we were obliged to remain there until next morning.
Our baggage, however, was principally landed, and stowed in the cars
that afternoon, and this operation was completed early the next morning.
When the hour arrived for starting, it was found that the locomotives
were too light to carry more than half our men in one train. They
were accordingly despatched in two trains at intervals of an hour,
and then the baggage had to be left to be brought by a return engine.
Arrived at Barbacoas, the present terminus of the railway, Colonel
Bonneville informed me that it was determined to march the main
body of the men from Gorgona to Panama; that the sick, the women,
the baggage, and one company would proceed to Cruces, where the
mule transportation would be provided, and whence they would also
proceed to Panama. I was ordered to accompany this last detachment.
Colonel Bonneville then proceeded at once in boats to Gorgona. Colonel
Wright was to follow when the baggage came up. The baggage did
not arrive till after dark; too late to transfer it to the boats.

In the morning it was discovered that the hospital stores were not
contained in those cars. I had a special messenger sent back to bring
them up immediately. Colonel Wright went on with the battalion,
leaving me, a subaltern, and a small guard, with the sick. My mes-
senger did not return till late in the afternoon, and then brought up
but four packages out of thirty, declaring there were no more to be
found. This made it necessary for me to return to Aspinwall, which
I did that night upon a hand car. I found my stores in the first baggage
car I met with in the depot, and the next morning carried them to Bar-
bacaos in a special train furnished me by Colonel Totten, the engineer
of the road. I proceeded at once up the river to Cruces, a distance of
twelve miles, against a rapid and dangerous current, in a small boat
propelled by setting-poles only; and by dint of great exertion and deter-

EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 403

mination succeeded in reaching that point at about 9^ at night. My
hospital boat did not get up until next morning. At Cruces, very much
to my surprise, I found the regimental quartermaster, about seventy
men, and all the women and children. This was Monday night. He
had been there since Sunday morning, and no transportation for the
baggage had yet been furnished by the contractors. The detachment
was encamped on the river at the landing-place, and all the baggage
piled up in the vicinity. At this time all were well, and my sick had en-
tirely recovered. Transportation was promised in the morning, and I
determined to push on as rapidly as possible, to overtake the main
body, at that time probably at Panama.

In the morning we were again disappointed in transportation. This
was Tuesday, 20th July. While endeavoring to get from the contractor
mules for myself and necessary stores, I was called to see a soldier said
to be ill of cramps. I found a case of malignant cholera, of the most
aggravated character. The man died in six hours. Upon instituting
a rigid inquiry, I found that the disease was, and had been for some
time, prevailing in the town; that numbers had died, and were still
dying there; and that a physician had been sent there from Panama
for the special purpose of treating such cases. It was of course impos-
sible for me to leave the detachment under such circumstances. I,
therefore, decided to remain until the men were all started, and this
more especially, as I was informed from day to day by passengers
from Panama that the main body had gone on board the transport in
Panama bay, and that there was no disease among them. I thought
it but prudent, however, to urge the quartermaster to as speedy a
movement from the place as possible; and by my advice he determined
if the requisite transportation was not furnished by the next morning,
to procure it himself of anybody, at any price, and require the con-
tracting parties to pay for it. It must be observed that a subcontractor
had agreed to furnish mules for 11 cents a pound, and all this time
they were in demand for private transportation at 16 to 20 cents. We
had the vexation of seeing hundreds of citizens forwarded, with scarcely
an hour's detention, while our men were kept at the most unhealthy
point of the Isthmus for five days, with no adequate effort on the part
of the contractors to forward us to Panama. The next morning we
were no better off. Captain Grant then went into the market, and
succeeded in completing a contract before night with a responsible per-
son, for the requisite number of mules, to be ready early the next day.
In the meanwhile several cases of cholera occurred, and we had four
more deaths. One man convalesced from the disease, but too ill to

404 PANAMA

move, I was obliged to leave him in charge of the alcalde and the town
physician. I recommended, under the circumstances, that the whole
detachment should be furnished with mules, lest the fatigue of march-
ing over so desperate a road should excite the disease in men predis-
posed to it, and they should perish, without the possibility of my aiding
them, on the way. This was done, but notwithstanding every precau-
tion on our part, three fatal cases did occur on the road.

In compliance with Captain Grant's contract, a large number of
mules, both saddle and cargo, were brought up in the morning, and
despatched as fast as possible with riders and burdens, respectively;
by 1 p. m. about one-half our men and nearly one-half our baggage
were on the road. The usual rain then coming on operations were
necessarily suspended for the day. I must here remark that the pre-
servation of anything like order or organization in the forwarding of
troops or baggage on mules across the Isthmus is altogether out of the
question. The moment a rider or a cargo is placed upon a mule's back
that moment he must set out, or the muleteer strips his mule and
carries him off. Our movement was, therefore, of necessity, a straggling
one, each man making his way to Panama as he best could, when once
mounted. The next morning, before 10 o'clock, the last of our men
was on the way, and most of the remaining baggage, and then I set
out myself. I reached Panama before dark, but too late to go to the
ship that night. I learned that she was lying off Toboga, 12 miles
down the bay; that cholera had broken out on board and carried off
a number of men. A small steamer communicated with her once a
day only, leaving Panama at 5 p. m. I was, therefore, detained at
Panama until that hour the following day. Here I learned that six of
the cabin passengers by the Ohio (our ship) had died in Panama of
cholera contracted on the Isthmus.

I proceeded to the ship on the first opportunity, and there was in-
formed that the main body had passed three nights on the road between
Gorgona and Panama without shelter; that they were drenched by
the rains every day; that the order relative to fruits and drink had been
entirely disregarded, and in consequence several men had been attacked
by cholera and died on the way. After their arrival upon the ship,
the surgeon of that and of two other ships of the same line had been
constant in their attendance upon the sick, and abundance of hospital
stores and medicines had been furnished by the company. That day
(Saturday) the sick had been removed to a hulk anchored near, and a
detail of men to nurse them, under the charge of an officer, had been
seHt on board by the commanding officer. I went on board the hulk

EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 405

and passed the night there. Several new cases were sent on board
from the ship during the night. The next day, Dr. Martin, of the
Columbia, kindly volunteered to take my place, and I got some sleep.
I passed the next night again on board the hulk, besides frequent
visits during the day. The next day I was obliged to apply to the
commanding officer for assistance. It was impossible for anyone to
endure such an amount of physical and mental exertion any longer.
We had, fortunately, among our passengers, Dr. Deal, of California,
a physician of experience and intelligence, with whom a contract was
made to perform the duties of an assistant surgeon on board the Golden
Gate, from that time until she reached San Francisco, for the moderate
sum of $250. Had we known what was before us we could not have
secured his services for ten times the amount.

Tuesday, 27th July, the disease was evidently subsiding. No new
cases had occurred during the night, and the sick were, for the most
part, improving. I entertained strong hopes that as soon as our baggage
was all received we should be in condition to prosecute our voyage.
In this hope, however, we were doomed to be disappointed. In the
afternoon of that day we had a heavy rain, against which many of our
men were but ill protected. Upon the arrival of the small steamer
in the evening about a dozen knapsacks were received, that had been
lying and moulding somewhere on the Isthmus for a long time. The
men to whom they belonged seized upon them immediately with great
eagerness, and opened them to get a change of clothing. I was after-
wards informed that some of these men fell sick while in the act. Be this
as it may, in about 20 hours afterwards they were all taken ill of cholera
in its worst form and within an hour of each other, and most of them
died. The disease having thus reappeared, it was determined to land
the troops. There being shelter for the sick upon the island of Flaminco,
about six miles from Panama, the debarkation was effected upon the
29th; the sick were placed in huts, and the well in a few tents and under
sails stretched over poles. On the 1st August, Brevet Major Gore was
attacked, and died on board the Golden Gate. His was the last case
of cholera that occurred, and he the only officer we lost. I recommended
to Colonel Bonneville to destroy any other knapsacks that might be
received from the Isthmus, and to have the ship fumigated with
chlorine, which was done. Several other officers were threatened, but,
by timely means, escaped a decided attack. Upon the island a number
of those previously ill died, but no new cases appeared. The fever of
the country, however, began to show itself, which made all anxious to
leave Panama as soon as possible.

406 PANAMA

On the 3d August, the Golden Gate determined to go to sea the next
day, but refused to take on board more than 450 of our people, and
expressly declared that she would not receive a single sick man. To
this extraordinary demand we were forced to submit, and I was accord-
ingly ordered to remain on the island with the sick, most of the women
and children, and one company of troops to act as nurses, etc., until
the next steamer should sail. I approved of the proposal to divide the
command between two ships, but could not agree as to the propriety
of leaving all the sick for another steamer, as a similar objection would
probably be made to their reception on board of her. I was, however,
overruled, and on the 4th August, the Golden Gate sailed with 450 well
men, Dr. Deal acting assistant surgeon. The three months' supply
for the regiment being stowed away in the hold of the ship, I placed it
in charge of Dr. Deal, with the packer's list, that he might use such of
the medicines and store that he should need on the voyage; the re-
mainder to be left with the medical purveyor at Benicia. Dr. Deal
was discharged at the termination of the voyage, and I have not seen
him since, nor have I had any report from him. I have ascertained,
however, that he had ninety cases of fever and diarrhoea on the voyage,
and three deaths. These are embodied in my report. I have also
learned that, not being able to find the box containing the sulphate
of quinine, he had purchased two ounces at Acapulco and borrowed
more of the ship, which has since been returned.

Upon the 7th of August it was announced that the steamer North-
erner would take us on board and sail the next day. The surgeon of
that ship was sent on shore to inspect our men; and although he
thought there were several cases of fever that would die, still, as no
infectious disease was prevailing, he made no objection to receiving
them on board. Arrangements were accordingly made for embarking.
The sick were to be first sent on board and accommodated before the
ship should be crowded with the well. By a mistake of the agent a
scow was sent to the island this evening to take us on board. In this
scow our baggage was first stowed, and the sick placed upon it. In
a few minutes the whole was flooded away, owing to the leaky condition
of the scow. Our sick and baggage were hastily transferred to boats
alongside, and thus sent to the steamer. It was this accident that
caused the damage to the instruments that were afterwards con-
demned by a board of survey.

It happened afterwards that it was not intended we should be em-
barked that evening, and the consequence of the blunder was a remon-
strance on the part of the other passengers against our sick being per-

EAELT ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 407

mitted to remain on board. After a great deal of negotiation it was finally
agreed that a few of the worst cases might be left in hospital at Taboga,
under the special charge of the agent of the company, he guaranteeing
that every comfort and suitable medical attendance should be provided
for them, and they forwarded as soon as possible. I considered it of
the greatest importance that we should leave that climate, as our well
men were daily sickening with the fever. Accordingly four men were
selected to be left, by the ship's surgeon, which satisfied the passengers,
and on the 8th of August we embarked the remainder and put to sea.

We arrived at Benicia on the 26th of August, having lost but one
man on the voyage. He died of the secondary fever of cholera. Upon
my arrival at Benicia I found a large sick report from among the men
shipped on the Golden Gate. They were ill of diarrhoea, dysentery, and
typhoid fever. The men were destitute of clothing, and were in tents,
exposed to intense heat by day and to very cold nights. By the advice
of Assistant Surgeon Griffin they were ordered from the tents into some
new cavalry stables just finished, and with marked good effect. The
character of the fever was decidedly typhoid, and the dysenteries
generally assumed the same type.

With regard to the treatment of the cholera as it prevailed among us,
I have only to say that all the usual means were tried, and with the
usual want of success. The first cases were nearly all fatal. I think the
free exhibition of brandy with capsicum and chloride sodium was
about as successful as anything. We found the acetas plumbi, in
doses of five to ten grains, a valuable means of restraining the diar-
rhoea. I feel sure many cases were relieved by it that would have term-
inated in malignant cholera without speedy relief. Mustard and
bottles of hot water with frictions of the surface externally, camphor,
calomel, and quinine internally, were freely used. But, as I have al-
ready remarked, and as usually happens in severe epidemics, the chances
are that the cases first attacked will die and that the ratio of the
mortality will diminish with the duration of the epidemic. In this epi-
demic we lost about eighty men.

Very respectfully, your obd't serv't,

CHAS. S. TRIPLER,

BRIGADIER-GENERAL LAWSON, Surgeon, U. S. Army.

Surgeon-General, Washington, D. C.

Another account by an English traveller, Charles T. Bid-
well, of a crossing a year later, is also interesting:

408 PANAMA

"That the traveller may form some idea of the previous
difficulties of the transit across the Isthmus, I may give my
own experience of it, no later back than the year 1853.
I extract this from my journal, written at that time, and I
wrote then, as I do now, without exaggeration. The travel-
ler who finds himself comfortably carried across the Isthmus
in a comparatively cool railway carriage, will hardly be able
to form an idea of the fatigue, annoyance, and expense of
crossing in 'old times'; and, as I have said, the account of
my experiences is no exaggerated account of what had to
be undergone by passengers even ten or twelve years ago.
Yet even then thousands of men, aye, and delicate women
and young children, were exposed to the dangers of the
Isthmus transit.

"We anchored in Navy or Limon Bay, at Colon, alias
Aspinwall, and at all events the Atlantic port of the Isthmus
of Panamd, and our port of disembarkation. After a very
early and hurried breakfast we left the good ship, which had
brought us thus far safely, for the miserable town now rising
out of a swamp, and struggling for a new name; a place,
however, of growing importance, in consequence of the rapidly
increasing traffic across the Isthmus of Panama". It is, and
is to be, the Atlantic terminus of the railway now being
constructed, and at present it supports three or four so-called
hotels, while buildings as ostentatious as painted wood and
large sign-boards can make them, are fast appearing in what
a few months ago was an almost uninhabitable swampy
island.

"We found here, too, a British vice-counsel, who had
removed from the old port of Chagres, and who had his
office on the top of one of the several 'medical stores/
which the unhealthy climate and bad liquors of the 'drink-
ing saloons' doubtless lucratively supported. Here, too,
we began to learn the value of a dollar, and the free Jamaica

EAELT ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 409

negroes' estimate of service equivalent to that coin; indeed
everything, as may be supposed, is enormously dear, and a
great many shillings have to be expended before one gets
one's luggage removed from the landing to the railway car,
a distance of a few yards. . . .

"We had the privilege to leave this unattractive spot by
a train at nine A.M., and after frequent stopping to take in
supplies of wood, that being the fuel consumed, we arrived
at Barbacoas at about noon. . . .

"The distance from Colon to Barbacoas is 23J^ miles,
and the railway fare is eight dollars (£1. 12s.), with an extra
charge for luggage.

"At Barbacoas we made up a party of fourteen, including
some ladies; and hired a canoe to convey us to Gorgona, on
the Chagres River, and our next stage; for this we paid four
dollars (16s.) each person, and after an attempt at refresh-
ments, which cost another dollar, and paying 'just one
more dollar ' to have our luggage put into the boat (although
we had previously paid to have it brought from the train to
the water's edge), we started on our trip. We were poled
along the river by five native boatmen, whose dress was of
that light description which approaches to 'airy nothing.'
The men, however, worked well, refreshing themselves now
and then by floundering into the bright stream, returning
to their work without the preliminary of towels. We were
fortunate in having for our journey a lovely day, and a good-
sized, tolerably comfortable boat, which was nicely shaded
from the sun by awnings and curtains; so the afternoon was
spent pleasantly enough; now in concocting and drinking
refreshing beverages, under the direction of an Italian lady,
a great hand at that art; now in trying our pistols at the
wild turkey and water-fowl that presented itself. The
Chagres River, as far as we traversed it, was interesting and
pretty. The stream was brisk and clear, and was shaded

410 PANAMA

nearly the whole way by the luxuriant trees and pretty
orchids of the tropics, and we happily escaped with only
one or two smart showers during the trip.

"We arrived at Gorgona, a small native village, about
thirty-five miles from the Atlantic, between five and six in
the evening, and as it was then too late to go on to Cruces
by boat, we were compelled to make up our minds, and, as
it turned out, our beds too, to spend the night at Gorgona.
Here four or five wooden houses, bearing large sign-boards,
offering hospitality and accommodation to travellers, strug-
gled for our patronage, but, as we afterwards found, this
accommodation extended little beyond the outside declara-
tion; indeed, a more dirty, disagreeable, uncomfortable
place to pass a night in would with difficulty be found in
the highway of modern travel.

"We selected, 'faute de mieux,' the Union Hotel, and
after paying more dollars to have our luggage conveyed from
the boat thither, we sat down with ravenous appetites to
doubtful eggs, the hardest of hard Yankee ham, rice, and
preserved cranberries; and from all such fare may I be pre-
served in future! Hunger, however, knows no laws. We
had not made a regular or an eatable meal since our last
dinner on board the West India steamer, so this fare, bad as
it was, was acceptable. The place contained a few stores
and more drinking ' saloons/ which were principally kept by
the 'enterprising Yankee.' The Gorgona road to Panamd
was just then open, it being passable only in the dry season,
and it was estimated that two thousand persons had passed
through this place during the last week on their way to or
from California. I noticed here one sign-board, the posi-
tion of which struck me as peculiarly a propos to the true
state of things; it was that of the Traveller's Home,' and
either by accident or design, the board was hanging upside
down! After our meal, we took a stroll over the village to

EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 411

arrange the preliminaries for our departure in the morning,
and one of my companions, an officer in the navy, who was
proceeding to the Pacific to join his ship, found that a new
trunk which he had brought from England was too large to
be conveyed by mule to Panama. It had cost him £5 in
London, and seven dollars (£1. 8s.) to get it thus far on the
road; but there was no help for it, he had to sell it here for
four dollars (16s.), and pay a dollar more for a packing-needle
to sew his traps up in blankets, which blankets cost some
dollars more.

"We decided to take the Gorgona road, and arranged to
have saddle mules ready early in the morning, to convey
us to Panama for 20 dollars (£4) each, and to pay 16J/2 cents,
or 9d. a pound additional, for the conveyance of our luggage.
Having settled these important details, paid down the cash,
and given up our luggage, except that which could be strung
to our saddles, we went to inspect a 'free ball,' which had
been got up with all available splendour in celebration of
some feast, and here we had a rare opportunity of seeing
assembled many shades of colour in the human face divine;
a gorgeous display of native jewellery, and not the most
happy mixture of bright colours in the toilettes of those
who claimed to be the 'fair sex.' Dancing, however, and
drinking, too, seemed to be kept up with no lack of spirit
and energy, to the inharmonious combination of a fiddle
and a drum; and those of the assembly whose tastes led
them to quieter pursuits, had the opportunity of losing at
adjoining gambling-tables the dollars they had so easily and
quickly extracted from the travellers who had had occasion
to avail themselves of their services. These tables, too, were
kept by the 'enterprising Yankee.' Having seen all this,
and smoked out our cigars, we sought our beds, when we
found for each a shelf or 'bunk' in a room which our host
boasted had, at a push, contained twenty-five or thirty per-

412 PANAMA

sons. We luckily were fewer, and the fatigue of our journey
sent ' soft slumbers ' to aid us to forget our present cares and
wants, and prepare us for the morrow.

"On awaking at daylight, I found a basin and a pail of
water set out in the open air on an old piano-forte, which
some rash traveller had probably been tempted to bring
thus far on the road, and, as its interior would not con-
veniently sew up in blankets, like the contents of my friend
R. N.'s trunk, it had become so far reduced in circumstances
as to serve as our wash-hand stand. I at once proceeded to
make a most refreshing open-air toilette, and after a break-
fast of the same nature as our supper, we mounted our mules
for our onward journey.

"It was a strange scene, that starting from Gorgona, and
reminded me of the famous start of good John Gilpin. But
there was no fear of our steeds bolting with us. They had
only arrived from Panamd the night before, and any animal
less stupid than a mule would have flatly refused the journey
now. For us, 'necessitas non habet legem.' And all honour
must be given to the Isthmus mules, notwithstanding their
stupidity, for the good service these hard-working, sure-
footed animals did, in days gone by, and did then, under bad
food and worse treatment.

"Our party was now broken up, and with only six 01 my
old companions, a small despatch-case, a bag, and a soda-
water bottle of brandy tied to the saddle, I bade farewell to
the shades of Gorgona, at seven A.M. The brandy was the
last of the good things of the ship, and the only provision
which I was induced to take, although in those days the
West India steamers provided pic-nic packages for the
Isthmus travellers.

"We had not proceeded more than a mile on our road
before we overtook an Italian of our yesterday's party, with
his wife and daughter, all walking; the two latter being

EAELY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 413

afraid to ride the mules they had hired, and which followed
them, led by the guides.

"The road, a narrow bridle-path through the forest, was
bad beyond description; in many places the mud was so
deep that it covered the legs of both mule and rider, while
those who were not thrown off into it, were frequently
obliged to unseat themselves to allow the animal to get out
of it. The weather was excessively hot, although we had
several heavy showers of rain during the day, and we could
seldom get our mules out of a slow walk; for even those who
were most successful were obliged to stop for some of the
party lagging behind, hence the ride was toilsome and tire-
some in the extreme.

"One old Englishman of our party who was very stout,
and, consequently, very heavy, was continually either
throwing his unfortunate animal down or falling off himself,
so that it was utterly impossible to get on with anything
like speed ; and not to mend matters, towards the afternoon
an irascible gentleman lost a bag from his saddle, containing,
among other valuables, his letters of credit; and when, after
a long search, the bag was found by a native (who was
rewarded by a couple of dollars), the important papers were
missing. This very nearly led to a 'row/ for pistols and
bowie-knives were produced; but as the missing papers
actually turned up afterwards, it was only another cause of
delay. But after more or less interruption, we at last
arrived at a hut called the 'True-half-way-house,' and it
being then six o'clock, we were obliged to halt for the night,
giving our mules in charge of two guides who had accom-
panied us.

Again we sat down to supper, tired, hungry and dirty;
and again hard ham, bad eggs, and cranberries. The
'house,' as it was called, had been newly built, having for
walls nothing but fir poles about three inches apart, and for

414 PANAMA

a roof out-stretched canvas. The establishment comprised
an Irishman, a Frenchman, and two Americans. There
were several pigs, too, running about, and one fine turkey,
but no other hut or habitation near. One of my compan-
ions, a German, caused much amusement by asking for a
boot-jack, and aspiring to have his muddy boots cleaned.
Being tired and stiff from sitting all day in the saddle, I
smoked my dear Havana and turned again into a bunk,
where I soon fell asleep and became food for mosquitoes.
I awoke at day-break, and arousing our landlord, who slept
above me, and my German friend, who, after having bathed
his body in a pie-dish of brandy, had reposed below me, we
soon got ready for breakfast, and got breakfast ready for
us. Oh! for the Gorgona pail of water and pianoforte!
Alas, I was only allowed to dash a teacupful of water in my
poor mosquito-bitten face, for water here was a luxury. As
the coffee and tea were kept in saucepans on the fire during
the night, we had not long to wait for our meal; again hard
ham, hard biscuit, and by way of change, onions and
treacle! Having paid for this 'accommodation' two and a
half dollars (10s.), we started in search of our mules, which
we had been compelled to pay for before hand, and found to
our dismay that the guides had made off with them during
the night. Nothing then remained for it but to walk the
rest of the distance to Panamd in about twelve miles of mud,
and what was even less agreeable, carry those of our traps
which we had brought with us.

"It was about half-past six o'clock when we left the
'True-half-way-house,' which we afterwards learned was
one mile nearer to Panama than half-way from Gorgona.
The road, although very rough and bad, was a vast im-
provement upon that we had traversed on the previous day;
but the morning sun was extremely hot, and the heat of the
whole day excessive. We took off our coats, rolled them

EAELY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 415

into bundles, and strung them with our traps across our
shoulders, and so marched on to Panama, arriving there
about one in the afternoon.

"Never in my life had I been in such a mess! After a
glorious wash I at once went to bed, sending the servant to
purchase for me a clean ready-made suit from head to foot,
for our luggage had not yet arrived. Nor did it arrive
until two days after us. This delay in the arrival of one's
luggage was, I learned, of frequent occurrence; and the
people at the hotel told me, quite a matter of course, that I
had better buy what I required for the present. It was
more by good luck than anything else that I was enabled to
do so, for I had spent in crossing all the loose cash I had set
apart for the Isthmus transit, and my letters of credit were
on Lima. Those who like myself were out of cash, and not
so fortunate as to find friends at Panama, remained in bed
until their clothes were dry.

"In those days the gold fever had reached even Panamd.
Everybody tried to make money, and many indeed made
fortunes. I remember finding at the hotel several Ameri-
can ladies, who occupied the time they were detained for
their ship by making dresses for women and children com-
ing from Colon, who were sure to arrive without their lug-
gage. These dresses were easily sold for large sums. . . .

"From the foregoing it will be seen that the distance to
be traversed, whether from Chagres to Panamd, or from
Colon to Panama, was, after all, trifling; but there appears
to have been an utter want of provision for the requirements
of the travellers, who, as I have said before, arrived by hun-
dreds. The old road of the time of the Spaniards seems to
have been allowed to fall into the most complete disorder,
and to render difficulties more difficult. The mules were
often insufficient in number to meet the demands of the
passengers and their luggage, and when to be obtained they

416 PANAMA

had frequently been overworked, and were unfit to make the
trip. Provisions, as shown, were difficult to procure, and,
when procured, very bad in quality, while the other abso-
lute necessities, such as change of clothing and proper
sleeping-places, after a day's exposure to a broiling sun and
heavy rain, it was impossible to procure at any price. V/as
it any wonder, then, that people unaccustomed to such hard-
ships fell victims to them, and that Panamd, became best
known in those days as the seat of a malignant fever, often
fatal to the European? . . .

"In these earlier days of Isthmus travel, the now almost
abandoned hotels of Panamd were quite insufficient to
accommodate the hordes from the United States, who were
attracted to California by the gold discoveries, although
four or five beds were placed in each room, and often two
persons in each bed. Lodgings were gladly taken in even the
most miserable rooms, and with the most wretched accommo-
dation, while passengers often encamped in the open streets
and squares of the city. The old city was literally astounded
by the influx of noisy Yankees who paraded the town, armed
with bowie-knives and revolvers, which were from time to
time made use of in the excitement caused by gambling and
the liquor of the impromptu drinking-saloons. From these
earlier emigrants, and from such men as accompanied Walker
in Nicaragua, the South Americans derived their first knowl-
edge of the American of the northern States. The impres-
sion created was far from favorable. Emigrants who had no
thought about the Isthmus but an impatient desire to get
away from it appeared to the Panamefios like invaders, who
were only waiting for an opportunity to seize the town, or
who had already taken possession of it. ...

"In April, 1856, a fracas occurred between the natives
and passengers, arising out of a dispute about some fruit,
which has since been known as the 'Panamd Massacre.'

EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 417

The knives of the natives and the revolvers of the Yankees
were alike called into play. The contempt of the Americans
for the blacks of Panamd, and the dislike and fear of the
natives of the Americans, but too readily kindled the spark
into a flame. The bewildered governor ordered his ragged
soldiers to fire upon the passengers, and several innocent
lives were sacrificed and much property destroyed before
this lamentable affair ended. This was but the explosion of
antipathies and jealousies long pent up. . . .

"Among the temporary settlers on the Isthmus, who were
attracted by the hope of making a rapid fortune out of the
by-passers, were many Americans, who had earned titles
in the war in Texas; almost every American was a colonel
or captain. Funny stories are told of two brothers who set
up an hotel in Panama; one was a major, and the other a
colonel. A companion of mine went to the hotel upon one

occasion to engage beds, and asked to see Mr. , the

proprietor: 'Which one do you want, sar?' inquired the
negro servant. 'Well, I don't know/ my companion replied;
' I merely meant to engage beds for some passengers who are
expected to-morrow.' 'Oh, then it's the major you want,'
replied the servant; 'the colonel attends to the bar — the
major to the bedrooms.'"

CHAPTER XXV

THE PANAMA RAILROAD

THE gold rush of '49 re-established the Isthmus as a place
of world-interest. It was no longer the forgotten province
of a mis-governed federation. The days had passed when
the inhabitants could cut each other's throats without
attracting attention. The world had need of Panama, once
more, as a traffic route.

The building of the Panama railroad was a token of the
new times. It was one of the most creditable operations
which we of the North have undertaken in the South. It
was a new kind of bravery which these Gringos brought to
Latin America when, in the year 1850, they waded into the
jungle-swamp with their transits and axes. It was five years
later, July 27th, 1855, when the first locomotive crossed from
ocean to ocean. About eight miles of track a year. Five
years of as bitter hardship as that of any Polar expedition.

The history of the Panama railroad really begins before
the discovery of gold in California. As early as 1848, W. H.
Aspinwall, Henry Chauncey and John L. Stevens had peti-
tioned the government of New Granada for a concession
under which they and their associates might construct a
railroad across the Isthmus, from some point on the Carib-
bean to the ancient city of Panama on the Pacific.

But it is extremely doubtful whether they could have
raised the necessary capital if the gold rush had not focused
public attention on the little strip of land between the
oceans,

418

Ear

TEE PANAMA EAILEOAD 419

Early in 1850, J. L. Stevens went to Bogota, and in
April of that year the concession for the Panama railroad
was signed.

There was some discussion about where to locate the
Atlantic terminus. The first intention seems to have been
to start from the commodious harbor which Columbus, when
he had visited the coast three hundred and fifty years before,
had named Puerto Bello. Mr. Tracy Robinson, in his
memoirs of Isthmian life, says that "if tradition may be
trusted," this plan was abandoned because a New York
speculator had bought up all the land about the harbor and
held it at an exorbitant figure. Whatever the reason for
the change, it was decidedly to the advantage of the canal
builders, who came later, that Navy Bay was chosen instead.

Work began in May, 1850. "The Illustrated History of
the Panama Railroad," by Fessenden Nott Otis, describes
the start in rather flowery periods:

"Messrs. Troutwine and Baldwin struck the first blow
upon this great work. No imposing ceremonies inaugu-
rated the 'breaking ground.' Two American citizens, leap-
ing, axe in hand, from a native canoe upon a wild and deso-
late island, their retinue consisting of half a dozen Indians,
who clear the path with rude knives, strike their glittering
axes into the nearest tree; the rapid blows reverberate from
shore to shore, and the stately cocoa crashes upon the beach.
Thus unostentatiously was announced the commencement of
a railway, which, from the interests and difficulties involved,
might well be looked upon as one of the grandest and boldest
enterprises ever attempted."

A few pages further on, Mr. Otis's style becomes a bit
less ornate:

"The island was still uninhabitable (their base of action
was Manzanillo island, the site of the present city of Colon,
A.E.), and the whole party were forced to live on board the

420 PANAMA

brig, which was crowded to its utmost capacity. Here they
were by no means exempt from the causes which deterred
them from living on shore, for below decks the vessel was
alive with mosquitoes and sand flies, which were a source of
such annoyance and suffering that almost all preferred to
sleep upon the deck, exposed to drenching rains, rather than
endure their attacks. In addition to this, most of their
number were kept nauseated by the ceaseless motion of the
vessel. Labor and malarious influences during the day,
exposure and unrest at night, soon told upon their health,
and in a short time more than half were attacked with
malarious fever. Having neither a physician nor any com-
fortable place of rest, their sufferings were severe."

On the preliminary survey, it was sometimes necessary for
the men to carry their lunches tied to their head and to eat
them, standing waist-deep in the water of the swamp.

Mr. Otis's "Illustrated History" was published on behalf
of the company and, being in the nature of a prospectus,
dismisses the "diseases" these pioneers had to face, as lightly
as possible. But there are many contemporaneous records,
however, which give more vivid pictures of the Black Death
which struck down the men of the railroad. I have chosen
the following passages from Tomes' "Panama in 1855," be-
cause, as he was a guest of the railroad at the time of the
formal opening, he is little likely to have maliciously exag-
gerated the dangers of the Isthmus.

"The unhealthiness of the climate has been one of the
most serious obstacles against which the enterprise has
struggled. I need not dwell upon the causes which produce
those diseases. The alternation of the wet and dry season,
a perpetual summer-heat, and the decomposition of the
profuse tropical vegetation, must of course generate an in-
tense miasmatic poison, and I was not surprised when the
oldest and most experienced of the physicians employed on

THE PANAMA EAILEOAD 421

the railroad, declared to me that no one, of whatever race
or country, who becomes a resident of the Isthmus, escapes
disease.

" I am indebted to the same gentleman just mentioned for
some interesting facts. From him I learned that those who
were exposed to the miasmatic poison of the country were
generally taken ill in four or five weeks, although sometimes,
but rarely, not for four or five months after exposure. That
the first attack was generally severe; and took the form of
yellow or bilious remittent, or malignant intermittent fever.
That although none were exempt, the miasmatic poison
affected the various races with different degrees of rapidity.
That the African resisted the longest, next the cooly,
then the European, and last in order the Chinese, who gave
in at once. The rate of mortality, I was informed, was, for
the natives of all races, one in fifty; the coolies, one in
forty; the negroes (foreign), one in forty; the Europeans, one
in thirty; and the Chinese, one in ten. ... I never
met with a wholesome looking person among all those
engaged upon the railroad. There was not one whose
constitution had not been sapped by disease, and all, with-
out exception, are in the almost daily habit of taking
medicine to drive away the ever-recurring fever and
ague.

"The railroad company are so far conscious of the debil-
ity engendered by a residence on the Isthmus, that they
refuse to employ those laborers who, having gone to a
healthier climate to recruit, return to seek employment.
It is found that such are unprofitable servants, and yield
at once to the enervating and sickening climate. The en-
terprise requires all the vigor of unweakened sinews, and
of pure, wholesome blood.

"A terrible fatality attended the efforts of the Railroad
Company to avail themselves of the assistance of Chinese

422 PANAMA

laborers. A ship arrived, and landed on the Isthmus some
eight hundred, after a fair voyage from Hong Kong, where
these poor devils of the flowery kingdom had unwittingly
sold themselves to the service of the railroad, perfectly
ignorant of the country whither they were going, and of
the trials which awaited them. The voyage was tolerably
prosperous, and the Chinese bore its fatigues and suffering
with great patience, cheered by the prospects of reaching
the foreign land, whither they had been tempted by the
glowing descriptions of those traffickers in human life, who
had so liberally promised them wealth and happiness. Six-
teen died on the passage, and were thrown into the sea.
No sooner had the eight hundred survivors landed, than
thirty-two of the number were struck down prostrate by
sickness; and in less than a week afterward, eighty more
laid by their side. The interpreters who accompanied them
attributed this rapid prostration to the want of their habitual
opium. The drug was then distributed among them, and with
the good effect of so far stimulating their energies that two-
thirds of the sick arose again from their beds, and began to
labor. A Maine opium law, however, was soon promulgated
on the score of the immorality of administering to so perni-
cious a habit, and without regard, it is hoped, to the ex-
pense; which, however, was no inconsiderable item, since
the daily quota of each Chinese amounted to fifteen grains,
at the cost of at least fifteen cents. Whether it was owing to
the deprivation of their habitual stimulus, or to the malig-
nant effects of the climate, or home-sickness, or disappoint-
ment, in a few weeks there was hardly one out of the eight
hundred Chinese who was not prostrate and unfit to labor.
The poor sufferers let the pick and shovel fall from their
hands, and yielded themselves up to the agony of despair.
They now gladly welcomed death, and impatiently awaited
their turn in the ranks which were falling before the pesti-

TEE PANAMA EAILEOAD 423

lence. The havoc of disease went on, and would have done
its work in time, but as it was sometimes merciful, and spared
a life, and was deliberate though deadly, the despairing
Chinese could wait no longer; he hastily seized the hand of
death, and voluntarily sought destruction in its grasp.
Hundreds destroyed themselves, and showed, in their vari-
ous methods of suicide, the characteristic Chinese ingenuity.
Some deliberately lighted their pipes, and sat themselves
down upon the shore of the sea, and awaited the rising of
the tide, grimly resolved to die, and sat and sat, silent and
unmoved as a storm-beaten rock, as wave arose above wave,
until they sank into the depths of eternity. Some bargained
with their companions for death, giving their all to the
friendly hand, which, with a kindly touch of the trigger,
would scatter their brains and hasten their death. Some
hung themselves to the tall trees by their hair, and some
twisted their queues about their necks, with a deliberate
coil after coil, until their faces blackened, their eye-balls
started out, their tongues protruded, and death relieved
their agony. Some cut ugly, crutch-shaped sticks, shar-
pened the ends to a point, and thrust their necks upon
them until they were pierced through and through, and
thus mangled, yielded up life in a torrent of blood. Some
took great stones in their hands, and leaped into the depths
of the nearest river, and clung, with resolute hold, to the
weight which sunk them, gurgling in the agonies of drown-
ing, to the bottom, until death loosened their grasp, and
floated them to the surface, lifeless bodies. Some starved
themselves to death — refusing either to eat or drink. Some
impaled themselves upon their instruments of labor — and
thus, in a few weeks after their arrival, there were but scarce
two hundred Chinese left of the whole number. This miser-
able remnant of poor, heart-sick exiles, prostrate from the
effects of the climate, and bent on death, being useless for

424 PANAMA

labor, were sent to Jamaica, where they have, ever since,
lingered out a miserable beggar's life.

"The Railroad Company was hardly more fortunate with
another importation of live freight. A cargo of Irish
laborers from Cork reached Aspinwall, and so rapidly did
they yield to the malignant effects of the climate, that not a
good day's labor was obtained from a single one; and so
great was the mortality, that it was found necessary to ship
the survivors to New York, where most died from the fever
of the Isthmus which was fermenting in their blood."

In another passage, Tomes gives an admirable summary of
the material difficulties of the work:

"The Isthmus did not supply a single resource necessary
for the undertaking. Not only the capital, skill and enter-
prise, but the labor, the wood and iron, the daily food, the
clothing, the roof to cover and the instruments to work with,
came from abroad. The United States supplied the enter-
prising capitalists, the men of science, the engineers, the
practical business managers, the superior workmen, the
masons, carpenters and forgers of iron. Distant parts of the
world supplied the laborers. From Ireland came crowds of
her laborious peasantry. The negroes, stimulated to un-
usual energy by the prospect of reward, thronged in from
Jamaica. The surplus populations of India and China con-
tributed their share. The mixed races of the province of
Cartagena, the Indian, Spaniard and African, completed
this representation of all nations, in which the Caucasian,
Mongolian and African, the Anglo-American, European,
Negro, American, Indian and Asiatic, with all their diverse
temperaments, habits and religious faiths, mingled together
appropriately to join in a work by which the ends of the
earth were to be brought together for the common interests
of the whole world.

"Most of the material used for the construction of the

THE PANAMA EAILEOAD 425

road was brought from vast distances. Although the coun-
try abounded in forests, it was found necessary, from the
expense of labor and the want of routes of communication,
to send the timber, for the most part, from the United States,
and not only were the rails, to a considerable extent, laid
on American pine, but the bridges, and the houses and work-
shops of the various settlements, were of the same wood, all
fashioned in Maine and Georgia. The metal-work, the rails,
the locomotives, and the tools, were brought either from
England or the United States. The daily food of the
laborers, even, came from a New York market."

But by October, 1851, they had laid the track as far as
Gatun — eight miles from the Atlantic terminus. This was
the worst of the construction work, for at Gatun they
struck solid ground. The first section had been through a
mangrove swamp, in which they had been unable to find a
bottom. The tracks were practically floated on an immense
pontoon. It was not until many years later that the com-
pany was able to get in a fairly solid road-bed.

Although they had now reached solid ground, and the
most difficult problem of construction had been solved, the
work came to a standstill for lack of funds. The cost of
labor was almost prohibitive. The